Madawaska Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Importing Methylphenidate and Alprazolam

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Tristan Nelson, 39, of Madawaska, Maine pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court to illegally importing methylphenidate, which is commonly sold under the trade name Ritalin, and alprazolam, which is commonly sold under the trade name Xanax.

According to court records, on February 22, 2017, a mail package from the Philippines addressed to the defendant arrived at the Madawaska post office.  The package contained about 950 methylphenidate pills and about 450 alprazolam pills.  The defendant came to the post office and accepted the package.  The defendant later admitted to agents that he purchased the pills online, that he knew the pills were shipped to him from outside of the United States, and that he intended to distribute some of the pills. 

The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, between three years and life on supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine for importing methylphenidate.   He faces up to 5 years in prison and between one year and life on supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for importing alprazolam.  He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. 

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.