FARMINGTON — A third co-defendant in a federal drug trafficking case dating back to July 17, 2020, in Avon has pleaded not guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base, and aiding and abetting.

Oscarlin Peguero Ortiz Franklin County Detention Center photo

Oscarlin Peguero Ortiz, 25, of Bronx, New York, is scheduled to make a motion next week in U.S. District Court in Bangor to suppress statements he made to law enforcement when he was arrested in 2020.

A federal warrant was issued for Ortiz in 2022 and again in 2023. A federal grand jury handed up an indictment for Ortiz in 2023, but it was sealed. The indictment was unsealed in March 2024 when Ortiz was arrested in New York. He pleaded not guilty to the federal charge of possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl and cocaine base (crack cocaine) and aiding and abetting.

He was released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond and put on home detention. He was arrested again in January of this year in New York and allegedly admitted to violating conditions of release.

The case stems from a 2020 Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigation into suspected trafficking of illegal narcotics from 887 River Road in Avon.

During the investigation, law enforcement surveilled the residence and observed a lot of vehicle traffic coming and going from the residence by individuals with known drug histories. Police searched the home and seized 85.03 grams of a substance containing heroin and fentanyl, and 40.09 grams of crack cocaine, and alleged drug proceeds of $8,863, according to court documents. Three defendants were arrested but the state dismissed the charges in subsequent months to allow federal prosecutors to take the case to federal court.

A co-defendant, Brandice Dotolo, 43, of Avon, pleaded guilty in federal court in August 2023 to charges of using and maintaining drug premises and possession on River Road in Avon with intent to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine. She was sentenced in November 2023 to two concurrent 30-month sentences followed by three years of supervised release. Ortiz and Dotolo were reported in 2020 to be girlfriend and boyfriend.

The second co-defendant in the case, Chrissie Laforge, 44, of Connecticut, pleaded guilty in 2023 to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine dating back to 2020 in Avon. She was sentenced in January 2024 to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Magistrate Judge John Nivinson appointed defense attorney Stephen Smith of Stephen C. Smith Trial Lawyers in Augusta on Feb. 14  to represent Ortiz after another attorney withdrew from the case.