Washington County men released after drug charges

BANGOR – Two Washington County men were released Wednesday from federal custody on $20,000 unsecured bail each after appearing on drug charges in U.S. District Court.

Jerry McPhail, 33, of Perry and Travis Nicholson, 32, of Princeton were arrested on Tuesday in the parking lot of the Maine Department of Motor Vehicles in Calais by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal and state drug enforcement agencies.

The pair is charged with possession with intent to distribute OxyContin. Each faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to a $1 million.

Agents met on Tuesday with an unnamed cooperative defendant who also is facing federal drug charges, according to court documents. The informant offered to obtain OxyContin from Nicholson and met with him at his business.

Nicholson told the informant that he had to meet a supplier from Canada to get the number of pills requested, according to court documents. Agents followed Nicholson to Marden’s department store in Calais, where he met with a man who arrived in a car with New Brunswick license plates.

Agents were unable to observe a transaction in the store, but later found Nicholson and McPhail in Nicholson’s car in the DMV lot. Both men were arrested about 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to court document.

A total of 83 OxyContin pills and more than $8,000 in cash were seized from Nicholson’s car.

The Canadian who allegedly met with Nicholson at Marden’s was not arrested according to court documents.