Case against former Franklin County prosecutor to move forward

BANGOR — The case against Kayla Alves, a former Franklin County assistant district attorney, will move forward in connection with charges in a complaint of tampering with documents and proceedings alleged in an illicit Farmington area marijuana grow, distribution and money laundering scheme.

Alves, 36, of Farmington had a preliminary examination hearing Nov. 5 before Magistrate Judge John Nivison, with her lawyer, Walter McKee of Augusta, present.

Alves waived her right Thursday to a decision by the federal court concerning the question of probable cause, and waived her right to further proceedings with respect to the preliminary examination.

The court “finds probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the crimes” alleged in counts eight and nine of the complaint, according to the order, signed Thursday by Nivison.

“This was just a simple agreement that allows the case to move forward, nothing more. Probable cause is the lowest of all legal standards,” McKee wrote in an email Monday.

Alves is charged with tampering with proceedings and tampering with documents.

She is the only one of 12 defendants named in the federal complaint Oct. 27 who was not indicted Nov. 9 by a federal grand jury.

According to the complaint, Alves on or about July 8, 2020, allegedly “did corruptly attempt to obstruct, influence, and impede a federal criminal grand jury investigation, an official proceeding, by informing targets of the criminal investigation.”

She is also accused of tampering with documents July 21, 2020. Alves allegedly “did corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, and conceal electronic messages between herself” and co-defendant Bradley Scovil, a former Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy, “with the intent to impair their integrity and availability for use in a federal criminal grand jury investigation.”

Alves was put on administrative leave in August and was let go this fall from the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office.

Eleven defendants who were indicted pleaded not guilty Thursday to the alleged charges: Businessman and alleged leader of the operation Lucas Sirois, 41, of Farmington; former Rangeley Selectman David Burgess, 53, of Rangeley; Ryan Nezol, 38, of Farmington; Sirois’ father, Robert Sioris, 68, of Farmington; former Franklin County Deputy Derrick Doucette, 29, of Jay; Scovil; Lucas Sirois’ estranged wife, Alisa Sirois, 43, of Kingfield; Brandon Dagnese, 27, of Scarborough; tax preparer Kenneth Allen, 48, of Farmington; former Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy James McLamb, 29, of Auburn; and Wilton police Officer Kevin Lemay, 33, of Farmington.

Lead lawyer for Lucas Sirois, Timothy Parlatore of New York, told the federal court Thursday he planned to file a preliminary injunction based on the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment. It prohibits the Department of Justice from expending funds interfering with a state’s medical marijuana law implementation, Parlatore told the court.

Based on those guidelines, Sirois said he has been acting in accordance with the state law during the court hearing.

Lucas Sirois and his co-conspirators are accused of making more than $13 million over six years through the illicit sale of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Sirois reportedly structured operations to appear they complied with Maine’s medical marijuana laws while he regularly sold bulk marijuana on the illicit market, including $1 million worth of marijuana for out-of-state distribution between 2018 and 2019, according to prosecutors.

Sirois also pleaded not guilty Friday on behalf of three companies he co-owns — Lakemont LLC, Sandy River Properties LLC and Spruce Valley LLC — that were also indicted Nov. 9 for allegedly maintaining a drug-involved premises.

Farmington businessman Randal Cousineau, 69, reportedly the primary financier, pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to conspiring to possess and distribute more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of marijuana and 1,000 marijuana plants.

Cousineau signed a plea agreement in April that, if accepted by the court, would allow him to serve no more than 63 months in federal prison and to forfeit nearly $650,000 in illegal drug proceeds.