Lincoln County Grand Jury

Bath man, Woolwich woman indicted on alleged heroin charges

December 2014 Indictments
Fri, 12/12/2014 - 7:45am

Two people were indicted by the Lincoln County Grand Jury on charges alleging they sold heroin throughout the Midcoast.

Fermin Sawtell, 39, of Bath was indicted on one count of Class A aggravated trafficking in schedule W drugs, Class C illegal importation of scheduled drugs and Class D misuse of a public benefits instrument, and Amy Varney, 20, of Woolwich was indicted on one count of Class B unlawful trafficking in schedule W drugs, Class C trafficking in schedule W drugs and Class D misuse of a public benefits instrument.

The pair was arrested in September by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency before being indicted in December.

According to an affidavit, officers from MDEA executed a search warrant at 4 a.m. on Sept. 25 on a motel room in Wiscasset.

Once inside the room, it was reported that agents found Sawtell and Varney in the room, allegedly packaging small amounts of heroin for resale.

Agents reportedly recovered four to five grams of suspected heroin, two hypodermic needles, two digital scales and wax packaging paper.

After warning Varney of her Miranda Rights, she reportedly told Special Agent Chad Carleton that she and Sawtell had returned from Rochester, New Hampshire where the two received the heroin from a woman named Tabitha.

Varney allegedly admitted that she and Sawtell were splitting the heroin into smaller amounts for resale when the warrant was executed. She allegedly told Carleton that the pair was planning to sell the heroin to multiple people in the area, as they had allegedly done before.

Varney also allegedly told Carleton that she and Sawtell had traveled to Rochester twice a week for the past six months to make purchases from the same heroin supplier in New Hampshire before selling the drugs in the Bath and Wiscasset area.

The two were arrested shortly thereafter and charged with the trafficking claims.

Class A crimes are punishable by up to 30 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine. Class B crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines while Class C crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

Class D crimes are misdemeanors and are punishable by up to 364 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.