New York Man Sentenced to Over Eight Years on Federal Drug Charge

 PORTLAND, Maine:  A Brooklyn, New York man was sentenced today in federal court for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and heroin, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy sentenced Akeem Cruz, aka “Vybe” and “Mello,” 31, to 100 months in prison and four years of supervised release. Cruz pleaded guilty on August 22, 2019.

According to court records, from about the summer of 2015 until September 2017, Cruz and others conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine base and heroin transported from outside Maine for distribution in Portland and Lewiston. Cruz’s distribution involved more than 100 grams of heroin.

All of Cruz’s charged co-conspirators have been sentenced. Melquan Jordan, 31, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Lamale Lawson, 29, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to 84 months in prison; Edward Canty III, 31, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to 66 months in prison; Christopher Rickett, 33, of Portland, was sentenced to three years of probation; and Sierrha Frisbie, 29, of Portland, also was sentenced to three years of probation.

The Portland and South Portland Police Departments; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the FBI investigated the case.