PORTLAND – A New Gloucester man described as a longtime drug dealer in the Lewiston area was sentenced in federal court Friday to six years in prison.

B.J. Almeida, 25, of Shaker Woods Road was ordered to spend 72 months in a federal penitentiary after he was convicted of aggravated trafficking in crack cocaine.

Almeida was one of three men arrested last April when Lewiston police and drug agents stopped a car that was spotted leaving a house that had been under surveillance by the drug agents, investigators said. In searching the vehicle, police found 12 grams of crack cocaine and a firearm.

Investigators said the stiff sentence handed to Almeida is key because it demonstrates that crack dealers can be imprisoned for long stretches no matter how much of a drug is involved.

In U.S. District Court in Portland on Friday, Almeida was ordered to serve four years of supervised release once his sentence is over.

The case was investigated by Lewiston police, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force.