PORTLAND — A Bronx man who supplied illegal narcotics for drug trafficking in West Paris was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 41 months in prison on a federal charge of conspiring to distribute drugs.
Yashim Gomez York County Sheriff’s Office photo
Prosecutors said Yashim “Scotty” Gomez, 38, and a co-conspirator sold illegal narcotics, including crack cocaine, out of a home in West Paris that they rented in 2018 for that sole purpose and not as a residence.
Gomez had faced a sentence of up to 40 years on the felony drug charge.
He had bought the drugs in New York City from a supplier and drove to Maine for distribution at the West Paris location, according to court documents.
On Oct. 28, 2019, Gomez and three other people drove in a van from New York to Maine carrying 382 grams of crack and powder cocaine that the four intended to sell from the West Paris home, or “stash house,” according to court papers.
Maine State Police stopped the van on the Maine Turnpike and executed a search warrant for the vehicle.
Police recovered crack cocaine from a pink bag that belonged to Geraldine “Gigi” Rodriguez, 33, from the Bronx, along with other evidence of drug crimes, according to court documents.
After the arrests, Rodriguez told authorities she and Gomez had sold drugs from the West Paris house.
In a 2021 plea agreement, Gomez admitted to a felony drug charge and agreed not to appeal a sentence of 60 months or less.
In a sentencing memorandum, his attorney, Luke Rioux, wrote that Gomez had a difficult life, raised by a mother who abused drugs in an unstable environment. He was sent to live with his grandparents, but his mother petitioned the court to retake custody of him.
“His world fell apart,” Rioux wrote.
He was physically assaulted as a child, beaten and burned, Rioux wrote.
Eventually, one of this mother’s boyfriends took Gomez under his wing and helped raise him. That man was also a drug dealer.
“It is, perhaps, remarkable then that Yashim never made a career out of drug dealing,” Rioux wrote.
Gomez worked at hourly wage jobs and saved his money. Coupling his earnings with an inheritance, he started businesses and realized some success, Rioux wrote.
“But in 2019, when finances were strained and businesses were strapped, Mr. Gomez returned to what he knew, what he had grown up on. He and his co-defendants were able to buy controlled substances cheaply in New York and then transport them to Maine for distribution,” Rioux wrote.
Gomez spent about 110 days in custody after his arrest.
He was eventually released pending trial.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jon D. Levy ordered Gomez to report to federal prison on Jan. 25 to start serving his sentence.
His teenage daughter and her mother spoke Thursday in the courtroom before Levy imposed sentence.
His daughter, who lives with Gomez, said her school grades improved when she was with her father. She said she feels “more protected and safe” when she is with him.
Her mother, Joslin Claremont, said Gomez “did a complete 360” after his release on the drug charges.
“He has changed completely,” she said.
His positive influence on his daughter and son had been “amazing,” she said.
Gomez apologized Thursday to Judge Levy, “the country and anyone I hurt.”
Referring to his drug dealing, he said he “didn’t think it all the way through” and took “full responsibility” for his actions.
Rioux said Gomez had hoped for a sentence of 18 months in prison.
But Levy called the crime “particularly bad,” noting that roughly 200 drug users had used the West Paris location for their primary source of supplies of cocaine and crack.
Levy said the strategy of renting a home to use as a place from which to do nothing but sell illegal drugs was “outrageous” and is conduct that “deserves to be harshly punished.”
After he’s served his prison sentence, Gomez will be on supervised release for four years, Levy said.
“You have to redeem yourself of this,” Levy told Gomez. If he doesn’t set a good example for his children and reoffends after prison, it will be a “travesty,” Levy said.
Two of the three co-defendants of Gomez have been sentenced, including Rodriguez, who also is serving 41 months in prison.
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