Man to be freed on bail pending new drug trial

A Florida man sentenced on cocaine charges is expected to be released on bail this week pending a new trial ordered by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

Ronald “Roast Beef” Burns, convicted in February 1988 in connection with one of Maine’s major drug conspiracies, was ordered released Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor on a $50,000 deed of trust.

U.S. Magistrate Edward H. Keith also ordered that Burns, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a special parole term of five years, have his travel restricted to Maine and Florida, avoid all contact with witnesses and victims, and report three times a week to the Pre-Trial Services office.

A new trial for Burns, who has been held at a minimum-security facility in Georgia, has yet to be scheduled in U.S. District Court.

Burns, 40, of Miami, Fla., was a co-defendant in the drug-conspiracy case involving Wilfred “Jay” Hart, also of Miami, Fla., who was convicted in June 1988 on cocaine charges.

Hart was sentenced to 30 years in prison, one of the longest drug sentences ever issued in the Bangor federal court, for his part in a distribution scheme involving 2 kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of cocaine.

Described in one court document as Hart’s “assistant and handyman,” Burns was charged with having helped Hart “recon,” or reconstitute cocaine at the Swanville home of drug dealer Norman Grenier, later murdered in a drug-related robbery, and with having accompanied Hart and Grenier when they distributed the drug.

During his February 1988 trial, Burns claimed that he had not been involved in the cocaine reconstitution and had remained at a Belfast hotel without knowing about the distribution.

Burns appealed his conviction on the grounds that his trial had not been continued by the Bangor court to enable Hart to testify at his trial. At the time, Hart, described as a “prime nuisance” for continuing to file “innumerable worthless motions,” had been sent to a Florida institution for a 30-day test to determine his competency to stand trial.

The appeals court in Boston decided in April of this year that Burns was entitled to a new trial because he had been deprived of his only witness, and the appeals court ordered a new trial to be held.

During Tuesday’s hearing, attorney Paul Chaiken of Bangor was appointed as Burns’ attorney. Chaiken said that his client was “no threat to the community” and “no flight risk.”

Burns said that if released, he most likely would live with relatives in Miami pending the new trial.

Asking for the $50,000 bail, Jay McCloskey, assistant U.S. attorney, said that if Burns were reconvicted and given the same sentence, he would have “substantial time” left to serve. The federal prosecutor also asked that Burns be ordered to avoid contact with witnesses because there had been “substantial testimony” on Burns’ role with Hart in threatening witnesses.