Repeat Trafficker Sentenced to 6 ½ Years for Distributing Fentanyl, and Cocaine from New York Across the Mid-Coast Area

PORTLAND, Maine: An Owls Head man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine.

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Felix Jose Bautista, 35, to 78 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release.

According to court records, from January 2024 to June 2024, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) covertly investigated a drug dealer who obtained fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs from sources of supply in New York City and then brought those drugs to Maine to sell. HSI identified three locations where the drug dealer was delivering controlled substances, including an Owls Head residence belonging to Bautista. HSI executed a search warrant at the residence, recovering about $11,319 in cash, two packages containing approximately 154 grams of cocaine and one package containing approximately 62 grams of fentanyl. Bautista admitted to investigators that he had purchased the drugs from a coconspirator, believed them to be cocaine and heroin, and that he was storing the cash on behalf of his accomplice. He claimed to have been operating for about five months, routinely ordering 200 grams of cocaine from the supplier as well as 60 grams of heroin as necessary to fulfill customer demand.

HSI, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

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