PARIS — Five of the 10 people arrested Wednesday in a River Valley drug bust pleaded not guilty at 11th District Court on Friday.

The five suspects who appeared in court were:

• Courtney Dyke, 23, of Peru, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin and conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base.

• Feleisha Burgess, 22, of Dixfield, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin and conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base.

• Dillen Bronish, 25, of Jay, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin and conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base.

• Joshua Tozier, 30, of Lewiston, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin and conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base.

• Jeffrey Waite, 55, of Dixfield, on charges of aggravated trafficking in heroin and aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin and conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base.

Also arrested were Angelo Ismael Cabrera, 21, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; Angel Ariel Cabrera, 25, of Mexico; Kelvin Caceras, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.; Steven J. Knockwood, 42, of Jay; and Matthew Duka, 25, of Hanover.

Their cases were heard in Rumford District Court.

The arrests are the culmination of an investigation that began when the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency began looking into Duka, a substitute teacher at Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico suspected of selling heroin and crack cocaine in the community, according to a news release.

The release said MDEA, Rumford police and Maine State Police used an undercover agent to buy heroin/fentanyl from Duka in Mexico. As the investigation continued, investigators learned that Duka was selling heroin and crack cocaine for Angel Cabrera and Kelvin Caceras, who were using a house at 21 Coolidge Road in Dixfield as their headquarters. The house is owned by Waite.

Angel Cabrera, one of the ring leaders of the drug sales, solicited Waite to use his home as a distribution point and Cabrera used Kelvin Caceras to help run the drug trafficking business out of the house, according to the release.

Dyke’s bail was set at $2,500 cash, or personal recognizance with a Maine pretrial contract.

Waite’s bail was set at $5,000 cash, or $20,000 surety, or $100 cash with a Maine pretrial contract.

Shortly before Waite’s bail hearing, his niece, Jessica Waite, spoke on his behalf to Judge Charles Dow, saying that he was a “good man” who had “recently suffered a lot of loss.”

“Because of that, he’s been put in a position of great desperation,” Waite said. “He also has been fighting depression and anxiety.”

Bronish’s bail was set at $1,000 cash, or personal recognizance with a Maine pretrial contract.

Tozier and Burgess received personal recognizance bail with a Maine pretrial contract.

Bail conditions for all five suspects included no use or possession of drugs or alcohol, and no contact with one another.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Courtney Dyke

Feleisha Burgess

Dillen Bronish

Jeffrey Waite

Joshua Tozier