A man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for selling crack and heroin in central Maine and conspiring with others as a “straw-purchaser” to buy guns from Augusta-area firearms dealers that were then taken to New York.

Rashaad McKinney

Rashaad McKinney, 28, originally of Rochester, New York, who more recently lived in Augusta and Benton, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Bangor on charges of conspiracy to distribute and posses with the intent to distribute cocaine base, or crack, and heroin and conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws.

Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. sentenced McKinney to 77 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

McKinney, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank, conspired with others to acquire drugs in Rochester and sell them in central Maine.

Also, according to Frank, some of the people to whom McKinney sold drugs conspired with him to illegally buy guns from firearms dealers in Augusta and Winthrop. McKinney recruited people to purchase firearms for him with money he provided, as “straw-purchaser,” paying them in drugs or cash. The guns were then taken back to Rochester.

The case was investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

McKinney, also known as “Dawson,” and “D,” was indicted on the charges in June 2018 and pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges in February 2019.

He had been on probation in the Augusta area after being convicted Aug. 30, 2017, in Kennebec County of unlawful possession of heroin, for which he served an initial 90 days, and a separate assault charge.