Lewiston Sun Journal
Jul. 28—WILTON — A New York man is accused of trafficking in cocaine and fentanyl from a local residence at 927 Main St.
George A. "T" Walker, 32, of the Bronx borough of New York City, is charged with three Class A charges of aggravated trafficking in cocaine and fentanyl, two of them elevated because of prior convictions. A conviction on each of the charges carries a maximum 30 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested him on one of the charges and a violation of condition of release.
Two additional charges of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs were added after a review by the Maine Attorney General's Office.
Wilton police arrested Walker on three outstanding warrants out of Kennebec County charging two counts of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, possession of scheduled drugs, two counts of failure to appear in court, two counts of trafficking in scheduled drugs, two counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, two counts of trafficking in scheduled drugs and two counts of violating bail conditions.
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency officers from the Western District Task Force, Wilton Police Department officers and a probation officer from Maine Probation and Parole conducted an investigation Wednesday at a residence at 927 Main St. where Walker was staying.
They had information that a woman at the residence, who was not charged, had been dealing large amounts of crack cocaine, cocaine and suspected heroin or fentanyl out of a mobile home.
According to an affidavit filed at Farmington court, her drug supplier was an out-of-state man known as "T."
A concerned citizen contacted authorities, informing them that the woman and a man were selling large amounts of drugs out of the home.
A Franklin County Sheriff's deputy spoke with a suspect and he advised Deputy Austin Couture that the crack cocaine was coming from the mobile home. A probation officer and a special drug agent conducted a probation check on the owner of the mobile home who was on bail.
Once inside the residence, agents and police made contact with a male who, at first, gave a false name and then gave officers the name of George Walker. He was staying in the room with the female but she was not in the room when the search warrant was executed.
Walker had bail conditions from a Kennebec County charge, which ordered search and testing for drugs or derivative at any time without articulable suspicion or probable cause. Wilton police arrested him on the active warrants and took him to the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington.
A special agent was granted a search warrant from the court to search the residence.
During the search of a bedroom Walker was staying in, law enforcement located a safe right in front of where Walker was sitting. The safe was not locked and an agent was able to open the safe. The agent located a large baggie of what he suspected was powdered cocaine and a baggie of suspected heroin or fentanyl, along with a sandwich baggie of suspected cocaine base, which is commonly referred to as crack cocaine. There was also $400.
The drugs were field tested. The cocaine powder in the safe weighed 323.2 grams including the baggie. The total amount of fentanyl weighed 6.1 grams and the total amount of crack cocaine weighed 6.3 grams, including baggies. All of the drugs found tested positive presumptive for that drug.
Walker is being held at the Farmington jail for the U.S. Border Patrol. He is also being held in lieu of $5,000 bail on a Kennebec County warrant charging unlawful trafficking of drugs. He has no bail on the three new charges of aggravated trafficking of schedule drugs and violation of condition of release.
Walker appeared before Judge Sarah Churchill via video conference from the jail to a court in Paris. She pointed out that Walker had never been convicted on the drug charges in Kennebec County that elevated two charges to Class A. Walker failed to appear for sentencing in 2019, she said, according to records she had.
Those charges could be lowered to a lower charge.
Assistant Attorney General John Risler argued for $30,000 bail while defense attorney Curtis Rice argued for $1,000 bail.
Curtis said that Walker lived in Maine and has children he supports. He works for a moving company. Walker also told him he only stayed at the Wilton residence for one day, Rice said. Rice challenged the probable cause in the case saying that there is no indication that the drugs seized belonged to Walker.
Risler said there was only one individual in the room and it was Walker. There was also a scale in plain sight. Churchill reviewed the probable cause affidavit with Rice.
Churchill set bail on the Franklin County charges at $15,000. His next appearance in Franklin County is scheduled for Oct. 10. Churchill appointed attorney Jesse James Ian Archer as defense attorney to Walker.
