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 meth 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 meth 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 day 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.”

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

While pseudoephedrine 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 prior criminal record.

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 prison 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.

 

Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:

badams@centralmaine.com

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