AUGUSTA — A 24-year-old Dorchester, Massachusetts, man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit unlawful trafficking in drugs.
Jose Figueroa, 25, also known as “Trap,” entered the plea Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center.
The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley, told the judge that Figueroa had been one of the “nephews” or “boys” of Jaime Brea, 50, of Revere, Massachusetts, the accused ringleader, and involved in the day-to-day trafficking of cocaine base and heroin in the Augusta area.
The drugs were brought from Massachusetts and New York, she said.
In exchange for his plea to the single criminal charge and agreement to forfeit $2,731 in cash and three firearms seized when drug enforcement agents raided several locations in Augusta, the state dismissed two charges of aggravated trafficking, one each in cocaine and heroin, and a second conspiracy charge.
All the charges were dated Dec. 20, 2016, the day Figueroa on which was arrested, when drug agents executed search warrants at several locations in Augusta.
Sibley said all the others accused in the conspiracy except for Brea have resolved their cases and received sentenced of 18 to 20 months.
“Mr. Figueroa is less involved than some of those who received 20-month sentences,” Sibley told Justice Donald Marden during the hearing.
She also told the judge that a warrant has been out for Brea’s arrest for the past nine months. Brea was free on $25,000 cash bail.
Figueroa had no prior criminal record, Sibley noted.
When Marden asked Figueroa why he came to Maine, Figueroa said, “My mom and dad kicked me out of the house.”
Figueroa was represented by defense attorney David Zirschky.
In separate hearings Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center, Vaughn Pierce, 36, also known as Vaughn Basford, of Burnham, pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in oxycodone that occurred Oct. 8, 2016, in Benton.
Sibley said a cooperating individual working with investigators arranged to purchase 16 oxycodone pills from Pierce, and he and a third person went from Waldo County to Benton to get them. Pierce then kept one for himself.
Pierce was sentenced to four years in prison, with all but nine months and one day suspended, and two years of probation. He also was fined $400.
Pierce, who was represented by defense attorney Thomas Tilton, is report to jail on Oct. 18 to begin his sentence.
In exchange for the plea, the state dismissed a second count of trafficking in drugs.
A third man, Jason A. Wooton, 31, of Lewiston, pleaded guilty to theft by unauthorized taking for stealing a Samsung Smart television on Aug. 5, 2016, from Walmart in Augusta.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $472 restitution for the television.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Coleman said Wooton put the TV in a cart and pushed it out the door without paying for it, then put it into a vehicle.
Coleman said video surveillance cameras captured all that action as well the license plate on the car.
Wooton is to report to jail Oct. 13 to begin his sentence.
His attorney, Nicholas Worden, told the judge that Wooton opted for a straight sentence rather than spending a shorter time behind bars and then being placed on probation.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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