A Waterville man whom authorities described as a “career offender” was sentenced Friday in federal court to more than nine years in prison on charges of possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute.
Patrick Hanson, 32, who had previously pleaded guilty in November, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 110 months in prison followed by six years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. imposed the sentence and “found him to be a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines, which subjected him to a higher advisory guideline sentence,” according to a news release Friday from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
Waterville police officers arrested Hanson in October 2021 after receiving information that he had threatened another person, according to court records. Police said Hanson possessed a total of seven packages of suspected narcotics, including one package that he had kicked under a door while at the police station.
In total, police said they seized about 43 grams of a mixture containing fentanyl. About 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose, according to the release.
Hanson’s record stretches back to at least 2013, when he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone and 500 grams or more of cocaine.
The Waterville Police Department, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, according to the release. The Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the case.
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