BC-ME–Cocaine Charge,0142
Former storeowner pleads no contest to drug charge
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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The former owner of a Maine convenience store will be sentenced Aug. 10 after pleading no contest to cocaine trafficking.
Abbas Al-Hamdany of Gorham, who has a 1998 federal conviction for dealing cocaine, faces up to five years in prison. During a court appearance Monday, Al-Hamdany told the judge he was set up and claimed to be a victim of racism. The Portland Press Herald said his lawyer will seek a sentence with no prison time.
Al-Hamdany is an Iraqi refugee who arrived in the U.S. in 1994 and had often been quoted in the media before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Police said the investigation was triggered by complaints from residents about drug activity at Al-Hamdany’s Westbrook store, Friendly Discount.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
AP-ES-06-02-09 1611EDT
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