PARIS — A Massachusetts man was sentenced Wednesday in Oxford County Superior Court to four years in prison for dealing heroin.

Jonathan Keefe, 28, of Wakefield, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of aggravated trafficking in heroin.

He was sentenced by Judge Lance Walker, who also ordered him to pay a $400 fine upon his release from prison.

Keefe was one of four people arrested on June 22, 2016, in a trafficking heroin crackdown in Oxford County.

Also charged were:

• Jacolby Morrison, 18, of Norway, aggravated trafficking in heroin and violation of administrative release;

• Laurie Jones, 52, of Norway, unlawful possession of heroin; and

• Jared Jones, 22, of Norway, unlawful possession of heroin.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said the investigation into Keefe and the others began after the heroin-related overdose death of 18-year-old Cassidy Patten of Harrison.

On Sept. 12, 2015, Patten died after being left outside Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Authorities said she died of acute intoxication of a combination of heroin and morphine after attending a party in Norway.

Patten’s parents, Sarah and Charles Patten, filed a $500,000 civil suit against Deanna Marshall, who they allege was driving the car that took their daughter to the hospital. Marshall drove to Lewiston, bypassing Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, which was a four-minute drive from the apartment where Cassidy Patten had taken the drugs.

McCausland said that in the eight months following Patten’s death, investigators identified several people suspected of distributing heroin in the county who were associates of the victim.

Assistant Attorney General David Fisher said that if the case had gone to trial, the state would have used testimony from Zane Loper and Tony Milligan, who were agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency at the time.

“The focus of the investigation was on Jacolby Morrison, and (the agents) knew he was on bail for trafficking, and they knew he wasn’t living at the address he had provided,” Fisher said. “They learned that Morrison was driving to Massachusetts to bring heroin back to Maine for resale.”

Fisher said MDEA agents and other police officers obtained a search warrant for an apartment in Paris rented to Laurie Jones and found Morrison, Jared Jones and Keefe inside. He said agents found 60 grams of heroin hidden in Keefe’s shoes, and $1,600 cash on him.

“Mr. Keefe claimed that the money was from being paid under the table, and he said that the drugs in his shoes may have been placed their by Mr. Morrison to pin blame on him,” Fisher said.

Fisher said that Laurie and Jared Jones later testified that Morrison and Keefe had sold heroin from their residence.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Copy the Story Link