RUMFORD – Two Rumford men were arrested last week on drug charges after search warrants were executed at their apartments.

Earl Blanchard, 44, of 421 Cumberland St., was nabbed on Dec. 18, while Shawne Gardner, 29, of 52 Washington St., was caught on Dec. 17. Both arrests were made by Maine Drug Enforcement agents and Rumford police after they compiled separate investigations, said drug enforcement agent Tony Milligan.

Blanchard was charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking in prescription painkillers, Class A felonies, one count of aggravated trafficking in marijuana, a Class C felony, and one count of acquiring drugs by deception. He was released on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Gardner was initially charged with one Class A felony count of aggravated trafficking in prescription painkillers, and violation of conditions of release stemming from last spring, when he was arrested for aggravated trafficking in marijuana.

Gardner was transported to Oxford County Jail in Paris, but later released on $500 cash bail pending trial, according to Milligan.

But, on Monday afternoon, Milligan said the district attorney’s office charged Gardner with a second Class A felony count of aggravated trafficking of prescription painkillers, and one Class C felony count of aggravated trafficking of another prescription drug.

Prescription medication that Blanchard is alleged to have trafficked in include Darvocet and Vicodin.

Darvocet is an opiate-containing substance used to treat mild to moderate pain. Vicodin is a narcotic analgesic and cough reliever for the relief of moderate to moderately severe pain.

Gardner was allegedly trafficking in Percocet, the trade name for OxyCodone, Vicodin and Valium, the trade name for Diazepam, an anti-anxiety agent.

Although both Gardner and Blanchard were to be arraigned on Feb. 3, Milligan said their cases would be presented to the Oxford County grand jury when it next meets in January.

When both search warrants were executed, Milligan said police seized prescription painkillers that both men had received from pharmacies.

“Gardner was arrested for exactly the same thing he was arrested for last spring, except he moved to another school zone to do exactly the same thing,” Milligan said.

As a result of the second arrest while out on bail from being arrested last spring, Milligan said prosecutors have filed a motion to revoke Gardner’s bail from the first arrest. That will be decided Tuesday, Dec. 23, in District Court.

Gardner received aggravated charges because he was allegedly selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school zone, that being St. Athanasius and St. John School.

But Blanchard was tagged with aggravated charges because he reportedly had a shotgun with ammunition in proximity to the seized drugs, Milligan said.

“They both have been selling this stuff for so long that we have to backtrack with several pharmacies. Neither is employed, so they were supplementing their incomes through these types of sales,” he added.

Both were allegedly taking advantage of insurance copays and paying less than $3 for hundreds and hundreds of dosages per month, then turning around and reportedly selling the pills for $1 to $5 per tablet, Milligan said.

Blanchard was also charged with acquiring by deception because he was allegedly doctor-shopping – seeing different doctors to acquire pain pills, he added.

Of the two arrests and previous ones this year, Milligan said Rumford police and drug enforcement agents are trying to focus on a large number of people misusing prescription pain medications, insurance fraud, and doctor- and pharmacy-shopping.

“There are a large number of deception cases in Rumford and these drugs are responsible for some overdose deaths in Maine. It’s a particular problem in the Rumford area,” Milligan said.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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