BELFAST - Suggesting that caffeine was more harmful than marijuana, Waldo County Superior Court Justice William S. Brodrick rejected the prosecution's call for extended jail time and sentenced an admitted pot smoker to 30 days. Brodrick sentenced John Thompson, 40, of Frankfort, the town's road commissioner, to one year in jail with all but 30 days suspended, a $1,000 fine and two years probation after Thompson pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs. Assistant Waldo County District Attorney Leane Zainea had argued for a four-year sentence with all but one year suspended. [continues 289 words]
- -- ROCKLAND - Police Chief Alfred Ockenfels is fed up with drug dealers out on bail and still dealing drugs. "I blame our judicial system when persons with prior drug counts are released on bail or given fines instead of being sent to jail," Ockenfels said Monday. "How else is a drug trafficker going to make his bail or pay his fines other than doing what he knows best?" Ockenfels' observation was made in response to the arrest on Friday of two alleged local drug traffickers. Robert Harford, 43, of Rockport and William Burns, 45, of Rockland were both arrested as part of an ongoing undercover drug investigation by city police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. [continues 353 words]
CAMDEN - Just as the town is divided over recent police actions, so is the Board of Selectmen over the idea of forming a task force to review Police Department policies. The selectmen voted 3-2 this week to create a task force to review police policies in the aftermath of public complaints about the way the department conducted a drug bust last month. Some in town deplored the methods used, others commended police for working to keep the town drug free. [continues 805 words]
