COOPERATION AMONG AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT NETS ANOTHER HERION TRAFFICKER

August 24, 2002

AUGUST 30, 2002
CONTACT: LARA NOMANI, Assistant Attorney General
207-626-8800

Attorney General Steven Rowe reported today that Edwin R. Baird, age 31, of Liberty, Maine was sentenced Wednesday for Trafficking in Heroin (Class B). Baird sold five bags of heroin to a police informant on April 18, 2002 in Belfast. Maine Superior Court Justice John Atwood sentenced Baird to serve six years in prison, with all but eighteen months suspended. Once released from prison, Baird will be on probation for four years. His conditions of probation require him to completely abstain from the use or possession of alcohol, illegal drugs and firearms, to agree to random drug searches, to undergo drug counseling, and to pay restitution.

In announcing the sentence, Attorney General Steven Rowe stated: "The alarming increase in opiate related deaths underscores the threat that heroin traffickers pose to our communities. First time offenders, such as Mr. Baird, can expect that they will be aggressively prosecuted and serve lengthy sentences upon conviction."

The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, with assistance from the Waldo County Sheriff's Office and Maine State Police. Assistant Attorney General Lara Nomani, who prosecuted the case, commended the recently created Waldo county drug task force, stating, "The collaborative effort among state, local and county law enforcement agencies is proving to be enormously successful in combating the drug trade in Waldo County."