Trafficking charges send County man back to jail Ronald Suitter Sr. accused of selling pot

HOULTON – A Linneus man with a history of drug offenses was ordered back to jail Friday after he was found guilty on additional drug charges in Aroostook County Superior Court.

Ronald Stephen Suitter Sr., 49, will serve a total of eight years in prison, said District Attorney Neale Adams.

Suitter was indicted by the Aroostook County grand jury earlier this month on a charge of aggravated trafficking in Schedule Z drugs.

Investigators alleged in the indictment that Suitter intentionally or knowingly trafficked in more than 1 pound of marijuana, a crime that was aggravated by the fact that he had been convicted of multiple drug offenses.

He was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter.

“We alleged that from last November until April, he had a system set up to sell marijuana, and that the drugs were brought to him by an individual from Connecticut,” Adams said after the hearing. “He has a lengthy criminal record and he has continued on that course.”

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency first arrested Suitter in 1995, DEA Division Commander Darrell Crandall said Friday, after agents searched Suitter’s home and seized firearms and other evidence.

He was convicted two years later of aggravated trafficking in cocaine and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but six years suspended.

At the time, he was ordered to serve concurrent sentences ranging from seven months to five years on eight other charges related to drug trafficking and weapons possession.

He was placed on probation for four years, in concert with jail time.

Adams said Friday that he was satisfied with Suitter’s sentence.