A New York man convicted by a federal judge in Maine last year year of being part of a ring that illegally distributed cocaine and heroin in Lewiston was sentenced Wednesday to serve 21 years in prison.
James Winbrone, 32, of Brooklyn was found guilty last Sept. 30 at the end of a jury-waived trial in U.S. District Court in Portland of possession with intent to distribute heroin, distribution of crack cocaine and aiding and abetting the possession with the intent to distribute heroin. Judge D. Brock Hornby dismissed a fourth charge of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.
Winbrone, who also goes by the names “BG” and “B,” faced an enhanced sentence because of his leadership position in the drug ring and “for his involvement in an act of violence related to his drug trafficking, namely, the assault of a customer who owed him a drug debt,” according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Winbrone was part of the ring at least from April 10, 2014, to Oct. 28, 2014, according to an indictment.
Winbrone was present with law enforcement officers executed a search warrant as part of the wire-tap investigation of the ring on Jan. 14, 2015, at an apartment on Bartlett Street in Lewiston, where they seized both heroin and crack cocaine from a refrigerator, according to court records.
Hornby also sentenced Winbrone to serve six years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
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