PARIS — A Hanover man was sentenced Tuesday afternoon in Oxford County Superior Court to five years in prison with all but 18 months suspended on a felony drug-trafficking charge.

Matthew Duka, 26, was arrested in 2017 after being charged with conspiring to import heroin and cocaine from Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Rumford.

Duka’s conditions upon release include three years of probation, $120 restitution to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in return for testing the drugs they found on Duka and a $400 fine on the felony charge.

Police said the investigation of Duka began in February when agents and local police received information that Duka, at that time a Mountain Valley Middle School substitute teacher and Mountain Valley High School coach, was involved in smuggling heroin from Boston and selling it locally.

Because of his affiliation with the schools, investigators brought in undercover agents to begin gathering evidence. An undercover drug agent purchased heroin from Duka in Mexico and learned he was working for drug dealers operating from a Dixfield residence, according to the release.

Assistant Attorney General David Fisher told Active-Retired Justice Robert Clifford on Tuesday that following his arrest, Duka was cooperative with investigators.

“I’d also like to put on the record that Duka does not have a prior record,” Fisher said.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Mathew D. Duka (Sun Journal file photo)

Copy the Story Link