AUGUSTA — Eric J. Finnemore’s methamphetamine habit was so demanding that he couldn’t buy enough pseudoephedrine by himself to keep making it.

So he recruited people to buy it for him, paying them with methamphetamine or money.

Those details are contained in sentencing memos filed in Kennebec County Superior Court by the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley

Finnemore and two other people involved in a methamphetamine manufacturing ring in the Oakland and Waterville areas were sentenced Wednesday in that court.

Finnemore, 36, of Linneus, in Aroostook County, was sentenced to nine years in prison, with all but five years and one days suspended and three years’ probation. He was fined $800.

According to Sibley’s memo, “(Finnemore) admitted he was the person manufacturing methamphetamine and because he could not buy enough pseudoephedrine to feed his own habit, he paid people with money or methamphetamine to purchase pseudoephedrine for him.”

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Finnemore had pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, which occurred between March 15, 2013, and February 23 in Waterville.

While the item is used to treat colds and available without a prescription, Maine law requires pharmacies to keep records of who buys it and when.

Finnemore had no criminal record, and his attorney, Michael Keefe, had suggested a sentence of three years in jail with all but nine months suspended.

Tonya R. Dickinson, 27, of Oakfield, also in Aroostook County, bought pseudoephedrine for Finnemore 42 times between October 2013 and March, according to Sibley’s memo. Dickinson, who pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, was sentenced to six years in jail with all but nine months suspended and two years’ probation. She was fined $400 and ordered to pay $850 restitution.

Christopher W. McEachern, 25, of Oakland, also bought pseudoephedrine for Finnemore, and told police that “in return Finnemore gives him a quarter of the methamphetamine he manufactures,” according to an affidavit by investigator Rick Stubbert of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

McEachern was sentenced to six years in prison with all but 30 months suspended and two years’ probation. McEachern had pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs on Oct. 7. A note on McEachern’s court documents recommends that he serve the sentence at Charleston Correctional Center. He was fined $400 and ordered to pay $850 restitution.

Two other co-defendants were sentenced in October. James Bell, 43, of Winslow pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 18 months suspended, and three years of probation. He also was fined $400.

Katherine Tibbetts, 39, of Fairfield, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of scheduled drug March 7 in Oakland and was given a fully suspended 364-day jail sentence, one-year probation, and a $400 fine.

Charges remain pending against a sixth person, Corey Stevens, 22, of Oakland, who was indicted on unlawful trafficking in methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit unlawful trafficking methamphetamine.and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.


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