Milford Resident Sentenced to 10 Years On Bath Salts and Gun Charges

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Edwin Hamel, 60, of Milford was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute bath salts and being a felon in possession of firearms.  He pleaded guilty on November 16, 2015.

According to court records, between January 1, 2012 and March 11, 2014, the defendant conspired to distribute the “bath salts” MDPV and Alpha-PVP in Penobscot County.  The defendant obtained the drugs from China over the internet, paid for them by wire transfers, had them shipped to the United States, and repackaged them for distribution by dealers who sold them for $100 or more per gram.

In addition, the defendant possessed two rifles which he acquired in exchange for bath salts.  They were recovered by law enforcement agents on March 11, 2014 when the defendant was arrested.  The defendant was prohibited from possessing the firearms because he had a prior felony marijuana trafficking conviction.

The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.