MASSACHUSETTS HEROIN DEALER SENTENCED TO 3 1/2 YEARS FOR AUGUSTA DEALS

June 18, 2004

JUNE 18, 2004

JAMES M. CAMERON, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, 207-626-8505

 

Attorney General Steven Rowe reported today that Claudio Arias-Castro, 29, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in Augusta on two charges of trafficking in heroin (class B), and one charge of illegal importation of heroin (class C).  Arias-Castro is a citizen of the Dominican Republic.  The drug charges stem from the purchase for $350 of ten packets of heroin from Arias-Castro and a co-defendant by an undercover officer from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency on November 14^th, 2003 in Augusta. A subsequent search uncovered additional quantities of heroin hidden in the engine compartment of the car the men were traveling in.  Equipment for packaging the heroin into retail size packets was also found in the car. 

Superior Court Justice Donald Marden sentenced Arias-Castro to three and one-half years in prison. There was no plea agreement.  Assistant Attorney General James M. Cameron, who handled the case for the State, did not ask for probation in the case because Arias-Castro will be subject to deportation back to the Dominican Republic upon completion of his sentence.  Arias-Castro had no prior criminal convictions. 

On May 19, 2004 Arias-Castro’s co-defendant, Christian Caballero, a U.S. citizen also from Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced by another judge on the same charges to seven years, all but two years suspended, to be followed by four years probation.

At the sentencing hearing, Cameron characterized the two men as an advance team, scouting new markets for heroin. Mr. Cameron commented on the sentence: “The message is clear. If you come to Maine and get caught selling heroin you will go to prison.” The drug charges were investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, with assistance from the Augusta Police Department.

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