October 12, 2007

New Brunswick man sentenced on federal drug charges

BANGOR, MAINE - United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby and Bruce M. Foucart, special agent-in-charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Investigations in Boston, announced that Jamie Kitchen, 37, of New Brunswick, Canada, was sentenced on October 11, 2007, in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, to 50 months imprisonment and three years supervised release, on charges of Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances and Importation of Controlled Substances.

Court records reveal that between December 2003 and October 2004, Kitchen conspired with other individuals to smuggle Oxycontin pills into the United States .Kitchen was shown to be the Canadian source of supply for some of the Oxycontin pills that were smuggled into Washington County and distributed thereafter. Several undercover buys were made in which a confidential witness purchased Oxycontin pills that were supplied by Kitchen and had been smuggled into the United States by a co-conspirator. In addition, on October 22, 2004, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents seized a quantity of Oxycontin pills being delivered by a "runner" working for Kitchen, after he smuggled them into the country. Kitchen was arrested in February 2007 as he attempted to enter the U.S. in Calais, Maine.

United States Attorney Silsby praised the investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

-- ICE --