Sullivan man sentenced for trafficking

ELLSWORTH – A Sullivan man who reportedly was an informant for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency for the past two years will serve 30 months in prison for drug trafficking.

At a hearing last week in Hancock County Superior Court, Bert “Sonny” Sinclair, 50, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking and a host of other charges dating back to 2003.

Sinclair’s attorney, N. Laurence Willey of Bangor, had asked the court for an alternative sentence, mainly because his client has been threatened.

Willey did not return a call Monday for comment but according to a sentencing memo, he stated that Sinclair has been assaulted and terrorized because of his cooperation with drug agents.

Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm rejected that request and sentenced Sinclair instead to six years with all but 2 1/2 years suspended, followed by three years of probation.

“This was an agreed-upon result,” Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich said. “We felt it was in the best interest of safety to get him sentenced.”

Although court documents indicated that Sinclair has been “a significant help to the government,” an MDEA official could not confirm or deny that the man was an informant.

“To be honest, members of the public cooperating with MDEA essentially is the backbone of our operation,” Darrell Crandall, an MDEA division commander, said Monday. “Everyone that’s arrested is given opportunity to cooperate.”

Sinclair has a lengthy history of criminal activity dating back to a drug conviction in 1988.

The Sullivan man faced drug trafficking charges in 2004 when he tried to argue that he was incompetent to stand trial.

Sinclair eventually agreed to a plead and was scheduled to be sentenced in January 2005.

Instead, his sentencing was postponed until just last week. In that time, another charge was added related to an incident in November 2006 when police found cocaine at his residence.

It wasn’t clear whether Sinclair’s status as an informant played a role in the sentencing delay.

Crandall stressed that not everyone who provides tips to the MDEA is a criminal.

“We have a lot of people that come to us with no trouble hanging over our head, but some do face charges,” he said. “No promises made to these folks upfront, though.”