Teenager in drug case sentenced to 33 months

BANGOR – A Plymouth teen was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to 33 months in prison for her role in a scheme to smuggle OxyContin from Canada with her boyfriend.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock spoke sternly to Amy Cray, 19, before he accepted the recommended plea agreement and handed down her sentence.

“You are a young woman,” he said. “No one in this courtroom takes any pleasure in putting you in jail for the next few years of your life. … But your conduct is extremely troubling. You characterized your conduct as a series of bad choices. But those choices occurred not once, but again and again and again.”

Cray, dressed in jeans and a sweater, cried quietly while she apologized to her parents, who were present, for her actions.

Her mother and father sat behind her along with a few other supporters.

“I would like to apologize to my family and friends for all the things I put them through,” she said during the sentencing hearing. “Drugs took over my life. When I get out, I’m going to make something of my life and make better choices.”

Cray and Steven K. Parks, 24, of Plymouth were caught speeding by a Maine state trooper. According to court documents, the officer smelled marijuana smoke coming from the car and searched the vehicle. He found marijuana paraphernalia and 126 OxyContin pills.

Cray later admitted that she and Parks had paid $2,000 to $3,000 to purchase the pills in Canada. She had no prior police record. She was indicted Jan. 6, 2004, on two counts of smuggling the drug.

The teen was out of jail on bail while waiting to be sentenced until her bail was revoked June 25.

Parks was sentenced Dec. 9 to 30 months in prison and three years of probation.

Cray could have been sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and fined up to $1 million.

“With a lot of misgivings, I’m going to accept the recommendation of the assistant U.S. attorney and the defense attorney and sentence you to jail for 33 months,” the judge said.

The judge characterized the coming years Cray would spend in prison and the three years of probation afterward as important years in her life.

“They are the years you should be completing your education, the years you should start on your career, and the years you should begin, or could begin, to settle down and raise a family of your own,” Woodcock said.

He expressed hope that Cray would be able to turn over a new leaf.

“Once you get out of prison, if you’re choosing your old ways, you’re choosing a life for yourself. And that life includes drug dealers, drug addicts, prosecutors and prisons,” he warned. “If you choose, on the other hand, to read the stop signs and turn in the opposite direction … I believe you will return to being the type of productive citizen you can be.

“But ultimately, Miss Cray, that decision is a decision you will be making every day for the rest of your life.”