COOPERATION AMONG AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT NETS ANOTHER DRUG TRAFFICKER

December 19, 2002

DECEMBER 26, 2002

CONTACT:
LARA M. NOMANI, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
207-626-8800

Attorney General Steven Rowe reported today that Edward Mylen, III, age 23, of Searsport, Maine was sentenced Wednesday on two class B felony charges of Trafficking in Cocaine. Mylen was charged with selling 1 gram of cocaine on April 5, 2002 and a second gram of cocaine on April 9, 2002. Both sales occurred in Belfast. Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar sentenced Mylen to serve five years in prison, with all but two years suspended. Once released from prison, Mylen will be placed on probation for the maximum period of four years. His conditions of probation will require him to completely abstain from the use or possession of all illegal drugs, to agree to random drug searches, to undergo drug counseling, and to pay restitution for the costs incurred during the course of the drug investigation.

The case was prosecuted by the Assistant Attorney General Lara Nomani, and was investigated by the Waldo County Sheriff's Office, Maine State Police and the Belfast Police Department. In announcing the sentence, Justice Jabar cited the enormous problems drug addiction and trafficking have presented to the communities in central and mid-coast Maine. He additionally recounted the alarming rise in overdose deaths that have plagued Maine this year. Prosecuting attorney Lara M. Nomani 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."