By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

PARIS – Three out-of-state residents were indicted on Aug. 12 on cocaine and gun charges by an Oxford County grand jury in Paris.

They are Anthony Payton, 30, of 347 West 55th St., New York, N.Y.; Ramona M. Bedard, 48, of 339 Portland St., Berlin, N.H.; and Peter Cortez Jr., 28, of 695 Main St., Berlin, N.H.

All three were charged with conspiracy, aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, and criminal forfeiture.

Payton and Cortez were additionally charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Payton was convicted of first-degree manslaughter on June 24, 1996, in Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn, N.Y. Cortez was convicted of felony possession of narcotics on Nov. 19, 1999, in Norwich Superior Court in Norwich, Conn.

Cortez was also charged with aggravated unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs. He is to be arraigned at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 22, in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris.

Arraignment dates for Bedard and Payton have yet to be scheduled.

The indictments state that on or about May 28 in West Paris, the trio allegedly conspired to traffic in cocaine.

They had reportedly met at the Traveller’s Inn in Lewiston to get the drug, and are alleged to have taken it with them to Berlin, N.H., in Bedard’s 1991 Mercury Cougar, according to the indictments.

Her car, however, made it only as far as West Paris, the result of a flat spare tire and the curiosity of Oxford County Deputy Brian Landis.

Landis stopped to offer the trio help after seeing Bedard’s car “limping along” northbound on the shoulder of Route 26 near Snow Falls Rest Area.

Landis said he asked Bedard for and received consent to search her car after they were “acting very nervous.”

In the trunk, he said he found 26 grams of cocaine, divided into many small plastic bags, a scale, cash and a .25-caliber handgun. He arrested the trio, charging them with aggravated trafficking in cocaine.

The charges of cocaine trafficking and furnishing are considered aggravated due to the presence of a handgun.

Regarding the criminal forfeiture charges, Bedard’s car and $4,180 that Cortez and Payton had were to be given to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office for its contribution to the investigation, the indictments state.