AUGUSTA — An Ohio man was sentenced to 18 month in prison Tuesday for trafficking in heroin and cocaine in late March at an Augusta residence.

Trevon Orman, 22, of Sandusky, Ohio, pleaded guilty at the Capital Judicial Center to unlawful trafficking in heroin and unlawful trafficking in cocaine.

He had been charged originally with two counts of aggravated drug trafficking, which can be punished by up to 30 years in prison.

The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley, filed a motion to amend them to unlawful trafficking charges, which carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison.

Orman was arrested March 29 at 117 Bridge St., Augusta, after police had received complaints about drug activity there. The home was occupied by Larry Murphy, 43, of Augusta, who was free on bail conditions at the time for other trafficking charges.

Orman was found coming out of a bedroom on the second floor, Sibley told Justice William Stokes, adding that two bags — one testing positive for heroin and the other for cocaine — were found on a roof just outside a second-floor window.

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Orman told police he was in Maine to sell drugs, and Sibley said that a search warrant done on his phone showed texts that corroborated that fact.

Brad Grant, Orman’s defense attorney, said, “From our perspective, this was a case of accomplice liability.” He said Orman had just arrived in Augusta with another man — identified elsewhere as Matthew A. Mason II, also of Sandusky, Ohio — who had a warrant for his arrest on a murder charge. Mason was extradited later to Ohio to face that charge.

Sibley noted that Orman was young and accepted responsibility for his actions early in the court process. He waived indictment on Tuesday, meaning the case did not have to be considered by a grand jury. She also said his prior criminal record consisted of two criminal trespass convictions.

Stokes imposed the jointly recommended 18-month prison term and told Orman, “You now have two class B felonies (on your record); that’s unfortunate, ’cause that’s going to stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Stokes also suspended one of the two $400 fines after Grant said his client was destitute.

Murphy pleaded guilty last month to two counts of unlawful drug trafficking and was ordered to serve an initial year in prison with the remainder of the four-year sentence suspended during two years of probation.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams


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