Augusta man faces federal charges in robbery

BANGOR – An Augusta man who allegedly pointed a gun at a pharmacist Feb. 9 at an Augusta CVS store and demanded all of the OxyContin at the facility made an initial appearance Tuesday at U.S. District Court.

Oscar Gagnon, 23, is charged with one count of armed robbery of a pharmacy and one count of using a firearm during the commission of a federal crime of violence.

If convicted, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison.

Gagnon has been jailed since he turned himself in two days after the incident. Bail was set at $100,000 cash. Gagnon was returned to jail Tuesday after an afternoon hearing before Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk. A detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, March 6.

According to a court affidavit written by Augusta police detective Alfred G. Morin, an unmasked white male walked into the Augusta CVS pharmacy at about 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, pointed “what appeared to be a handgun” at a pharmacist and “demanded all of the OxyContin.”

A powerful painkiller, OxyContin is prescribed for cancer patients and others suffering from severe pain. Abusers use it to get a high similar to that produced by heroin.

The pharmacist, who is unnamed in the affidavit, told the detective he handed the gunman more than 2,000 dosage units of OxyContin in a variety of strengths including 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg, 80 mg and 160 mg. The gunman then left the store.

The pharmacist later identified Gagnon’s picture. A second employee at the pharmacy also picked Gagnon’s photo out of several displayed by police.

On Feb. 10, officials executed a search warrant at the residence of Gagnon and his cousin Zachary Gagnon. According to the affidavit, Zachary Gagnon’s girlfriend was present during the robbery and she told a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agent that the person who robbed the store was Oscar A. Gagnon.

Zachary Gagnon later led the police detective to an area where, he said, Oscar Gagnon had thrown a weapon used in the robbery out a car window.

Detective Morin recovered the weapon, a semiautomatic Ruger handgun.