Eagle Lake man charged with aggravated cocaine trafficking

HOULTON – An Eagle Lake man was arraigned on a charge of aggravated trafficking of a scheduled drug Monday after being arrested over the weekend with more than one pound of cocaine.

Michael Fournier, 48, spent the weekend at the Aroostook County Jail and had not made bail Monday afternoon.

He is charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, cocaine, a Class A felony. He is also being held for violation of post conviction bail conditions. Bail was set at $25,000 surety.

Fournier was not asked for a plea Monday, but he requested that an attorney be provided for himself. Judge Bernard O’Mara set July 29 for a probable cause hearing.

Suzanne Lilley, assistant Aroostook County District Attorney, told the judge that the charge against Fournier was “very serious.”

She requested a long list of conditions for bail, including random testing for drugs and no alcohol. She also wanted a 24-hour-a-day custodian for Fournier.

Fournier said in court that the conditions would create impositions on his family and friends.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, with the assistance of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department and the Maine State Police, executed a search warrant on Fournier’s home and seized more than one pound of cocaine, some marijuana, unlawfully possessed prescription narcotics, digital scales, packaging material, two stolen firearms and drug records.

The street value of the cocaine alone was estimated to be more than $55,000.

Fournier, who was at home when police arrived, offered no resistance to police.

“We have been aware of the increasing availability of cocaine in northern Maine, as well as through the state,” Darrell Crandall, division commander of the MDEA in Houlton, said Monday. “We have limited resources, and we move people to areas of greatest threat.

“The investigation has been going on some time,” he said of the Fournier arrest. “Other individuals were involved in this enterprise, and there is a good chance of other arrests.

“The investigation is far from over,” he said.

Fournier, who was recently convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, was on bail pending an appeal of that conviction.

If convicted of the cocaine charge, Fournier faces a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 40 years.

Bangor Daily News reporter Jen Lynds contributed to this story.