A Connecticut man was ordered held on $250,000 cash bail Tuesday on several charges stemming from a bust last week that resulted in the largest single seizure of heroin in Maine history.
At a first appearance hearing at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland, authorities alleged that James N. Jamison, of Waterbury, Connecticut, tried to dump 10,000 packets of heroin – roughly 2 pounds – as he fled a police sting Friday near the Maine Mall in South Portland.
The charges he faced Tuesday included eluding an officer, aggravated assault, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, reckless conduct, aggravated driving to endanger, and criminal trespassing.
Jamison, 33, is expected to face more serious felony drug charges in Aroostook County, where police say the drugs were headed for distribution.
“He’s been to Maine a number of times for the sole purpose of distributing heroin,” said Cmdr. Scott J. Pelletier of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The MDEA is working with the Connecticut State Police to determine the source of the heroin, according to Pelletier.
He said an additional 2,800 packets of heroin were seized in Aroostook County as part of the wider investigation, but Jamison’s connection to that seizure was not clear. It was not known when that seizure took place.
In the current case for which he appeared Tuesday, investigators allege that Jamison had arranged to sell the heroin for $30,000 and sought to make the exchange Friday in a parking lot off Maine Mall Road in South Portland near the Cracker Barrel restaurant. Police, who were working with a confidential informant, were waiting to box in his vehicle and arrest him.
Instead of submitting to arrest, police say, Jamison rammed an MDEA van with four agents inside and took off, injuring two of them. South Portland police then tried to pull Jamison over, but they did not pursue when Jamison drove off.
Shortly thereafter, before 11 a.m., Jamison was in a crash on Cummings Road in Scarborough that involved multiple vehicles, and fled the scene on foot. Police found him hiding in a hotel room at the Fairfield Inn Marriott hotel in Scarborough.
A state-appointed attorney representing Jamison on Tuesday asked for $25,000 bail and said that despite the allegations against him, Jamison holds a full-time job in Connecticut, where he lives with his girlfriend and daughter. More than a dozen family members and friends appeared in the courtroom. .
Jamison indicated that he plans to hire his own attorney for future court appearances.
The state asked for $250,000 and conditions that would prevent him from being released into the custody of a third party who ensured he appeared in court; prohibitions on the possession of alcohol or illegal drugs; and instructions not to leave the state of Maine.
Justice Lance Wheeler agreed to the higher bail and the conditions suggested by the state.
Aroostook County has not been as hard-hit as other parts of the state by the ongoing opioid epidemic, Pelletier said. Selling drugs in less populated areas can also be more lucrative: While a bag of heroin in Connecticut may sell for $7, Pelletier said, the same amount could go for $35 in Aroostook County.
The MDEA originally estimated the street value of the 10,000 packets seized Friday at $450,000, Pelletier said.
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