Corinna woman indicted in drug case

BANGOR – The grandmother of a man sentenced to 13 years in prison for burying 8 pounds of cocaine in her pool shed was indicted Monday by a Penobscot County grand jury on a charge of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs.

Jeanne E. Rogers, 64, of Corinna was arrested on Oct. 7 in connection with the drug trafficking operation of her grandson, Jason R. Belmer, 25, of Corinna.

Belmer eluded police for six weeks in Maine, Colorado and Kansas before his arrest on Oct. 4 in Pittsfield.

Details were not available Monday about how Rogers was involved in the drug trafficking to which her grandson pleaded guilty on Oct. 15.

Rogers, who is free on bail, is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 23 in Penobscot County Superior Court. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

Belmer’s girlfriend Michelle Carmack, 27, of Corinna remained Monday in Penobscot County Jail, unable to make bail on drug trafficking charges. She has not been indicted by a grand jury.

Authorities originally suspected Carmack had been forced to leave the state with Belmer.

Carmack and Belmer were stopped on Sept. 4 for speeding on Interstate 70 in Burlington, Colo., a few miles over the Kansas border. Carmack was arrested, but Belmer disappeared by running into a cornfield.

Carmack’s bail was set on Sept. 13 at $15,000 cash or $80,000 surety by District Court Judge Jessie Gunther in 3rd District Court in Bangor.

Carmack is charged with aggravated drug trafficking and hindering apprehension to avoid prosecution. If indicted and convicted, she faces up to 40 years in prison.

Belmer pleaded guilty on Oct. 15 before he had been indicted. He was sentenced to 13 years on the aggravated trafficking charge as well as three concurrent sentences of 360 days for misdemeanor charges of criminal restraint, burglary to a motor vehicle and refusing to submit to arrest.