Sidney Man Sentenced to 3½ Years for Heroin and Crack Trafficking Conspiracy and Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Derek Blake, 32, of Sidney, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Senior Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., to 3½ years in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine base, commonly known as “crack,” and maintaining a drug-involved premises.

According to court records, between June 2015 and March 2017, Blake conspired with others to acquire heroin and crack in Rochester, New York and transport it to Central Maine for distribution. The defendant assisted Rochester dealers in distributing the drugs from his Sidney residence, served as a “middle-man” for drugs deals, introduced dealers to drug customers in Central Maine and provided transportation for the dealers and their drugs. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance provided by the Augusta Police Department and prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.