Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Edwin Hamel, 59, of Milford, Maine pleaded guilty today U.S. District Court to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute bath salts and to being a felon in possession of firearms.
According to court records, between about January 2012 and March 2014, the defendant conspired with others to distribute the bath salts MDPV and Alpha-PVP in Penobscot County. He obtained the drugs from China by ordering them over the internet. He and others following his instructions wired payments for them to China. The drugs were shipped by U.S. International Express Mail to the defendant and others where they were re-packaged for distribution and sold for $100 or more per gram.
In addition, the defendant possessed two Remington Model 700LH Bolt Action rifles which he acquired in exchange for bath salts. They were recovered by law enforcement agents on March 11, 2014 when the defendant was arrested. The defendant was prohibited from possessing the firearms because he had a prior felony marijuana trafficking conviction.
The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine and supervised release of between three years and life on the drug conspiracy charge. He faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release on the gun charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
