A Falmouth man who spent 25 years in prison for cocaine trafficking is now facing fentanyl trafficking charges.
Dale Scott Hunnewell
Dale Hunnewell, 61, has been charged with aggravated trafficking of fentanyl after nearly two pounds of the drug were seized during the investigation and arrest, state police said in a statement Monday.
Police said Hunnewell was distributing the drug on a large scale throughout the Greater Portland area. During the investigation, undercover agents purchased fentanyl from Hunnewell, said Commander Scott Pelletier of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Pelletier in a telephone interview Monday night described the bust as significant, but not one of the biggest in recent memory. Pelletier said he was proud of the agents who worked long hours to remove some of the most dangerous drugs available from the streets.
“He was a significant dealer. It’s a very significant (drug bust), but not anywhere near our largest,” Pelletier said. “It’s a lot of fentanyl, a lot of deaths and a lot of overdoses.”
Portland police arrested Hunnewall during a traffic stop Thursday and seized 103 grams of fentanyl. Police brought Hunnewell to the Cumberland County Jail, where bail was set at $50,000 cash.
A subsequent search of Hunnewell’s home on Gray Road in Falmouth found an additional 303 grams of fentanyl, 59 grams of methamphetamine, 57 grams of cocaine, 120 assorted prescription pills and $3,550 in suspected drug proceeds, Pelletier said.
The approximate street value of the seized drugs is $90,000.
In 1989, Hunnewell was sentenced to and served 25 years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Hunnewell served his time and then completed his post-release probationary period in 2016. But in 2019, Pelletier said, the MDEA arrested Hunnewell on drug trafficking charges. The United States Attorney’s Office took over the case, indicting Hunnewell on drug trafficking charges in 2019, according to Pelletier.
But on Nov. 29, the charges against Hunnewell, including intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine base, were officially dismissed by federal prosecutors, court records show.
Records obtained from Portland District Court do not specify the reason for the dismissal.
“The government has concluded that dismissal of the indictment is proper and would serve the interests of justice,” prosecutors state in their court filing dated Nov. 23.
Pelletier said his agency plans to move forward with the charges that were filed against Hunnewell on Monday.
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