One of two men involved in a June 2016 shots-fired incident in the Augusta Walmart parking lot was sentenced Tuesday afternoon at federal court in Bangor to almost 13 years in prison on charges related to that offense.
Reginald McBride of Harlem, New York, was convicted by a federal jury March 14 in U.S. District Court on weapons and drug trafficking charges.
U.S. District Court John A. Woodcock Jr., who presided at the trial, imposed the sentence Tuesday. It included 88 months plus 201 days on the charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession with intent to distribute heroin. That is to be followed by 60 months on the conviction for using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
After he is released from prison, McBride will spend a total of five years on supervised release
The federal charges came after McBride was indicted in September 2016 on state charges of attempted murder, aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, reckless conduct with a firearm, and four counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Pamela Ames, McBride’s attorney on the state charges, said previously that his state charges would continue until the federal charges are resolved.
Court documents show that McBride has a variety of aliases, including Kweasia McBride, Anthony Walker and Sunny, as well as a variety of birth dates, making him anywhere from 41 to 47 years old. Ames said her client is 47.
He was arrested under the name Kwiesha “Reggie” McBride in Augusta on June 26, 2016, following reports of the gunshots in the parking lot. Augusta police at the time said the dispute was over drugs and money.
Court records indicated McBride previously had been convicted of three felony charges in Virginia and one in New York.
In a media briefing at the time, Augusta police Sgt. Christian Behr said the shooting broke out between people in two cars parked beside each other at the Wal-Mart parking lot. Police received several 911 calls of shots fired around 5:24 p.m. that day and witnesses called police with vehicle and people descriptions, he said.
After the shooting stopped, one suspect emerged from one car and confronted people in the other car, Behr said.
The altercation was interrupted by two bystanders, both legally armed with handguns, who had been watching the dispute unfold.
McBride left the scene in a car driven by Samantha Tupper; the other two involved, Diana Davis and her brother, Frankie Dejesus, both of Rochester, New York, remained there. Dejesus and McBride were later charged with attempted murder and other offenses.
On Nov. 20, 2018, in the same federal courthouse, Dejesus pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge, the last of 16 people charged in a May 2017 federal indictment.
On Oct. 24, Davis, 30, also known as “Lil C” and “CC,” pleaded guilty in federal court in Bangor to three charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl and crack, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Tupper faced only state charges.
Police say Tupper picked up McBride on Mount Vernon Avenue and drove him to Walmart that day and then back to her residence in Augusta where police found them. Tupper was convicted of hindering apprehension of McBride. She was sentenced to five months in jail concurrent to a nine-month probation revocation.
Tupper, now 26, is currently at the Maine Correctional Center serving a sentence for aggravated drug trafficking.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
Send questions/comments to the editors.
