March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

2 acquitted in federal drug trial

BANGOR — A U.S. District Court jury Thursday acquitted two defendants accused of being part of a major drug ring that distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana from Massachusetts to Maine.

After more than a day of deliberations, jurors found Irvin Morris, 37, of Otisfield and Stuart L. Smith, 42, of North Falmouth, Mass., innocent of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana.

Morris and Smith were among eight defendants charged in a case described by prosecutors as the largest marijuana bust of its kind in western Maine’s Oxford County.

Six defendants who pleaded guilty were awaiting sentence and could face varying prison terms as high as 10 years and fines of up to $4 million.

Morris and Smith were arrested in July 1994 and charged with taking part in a conspiracy involving marijuana from Mexico and South America that was smuggled to a farm in Mansfield, Mass. Some of the marijuana was then transferred to the Oxford Hills region of Maine for distribution in Cumberland, Androscoggin and Oxford counties.

Investigators said the conspiracy was carried out between 1986 and 1993.

Those pleading guilty included Richard A. Record, 34, of West Paris; Gary T. Dethlefs, 43, of Mansfield, Mass.; Peter C. Picciandra, 45, of Buzzards Bay, Mass.; Thomas K. Stone, 31, of Taunton, Mass; Rebecca B. White, 36, of Mansfield; and her brother, David White, 44, also of Mansfield.

Among the dozens of witnesses presented by the government during the three-week trial of Morris and Smith were major dealers from California and Arizona who supplied the Massachusetts-based operation.

Defense lawyers argued that the government failed to link Morris and Smith to the marijuana ring.

“There’s no question that there was a conspiracy. It was just a question of who was involved,” said attorney William Maselli of Auburn, who represented Morris.

“The jury verdict represented a rejection of the government’s use of cooperating informants and witnesses,” Maselli said.

Morris and Smith still face charges of conspiracy to defraud the government by impeding the Internal Revenue Service, said William Browder, first assistant U.S. attorney.

“Those charges are still pending and we’re considering whether we will proceed with those charges,” Browder said.


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