A New York City woman tied to a Waterville drug dealer who was part of a 21-person 2012 drug bust was sentenced to almost two years in federal prison for helping bring 645 oxycodone tablets to Waterville in 2013.
Ebony Howard, 29, of Bronx, N.Y., was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 22 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. Howard pleaded guilty on June 4 to the charge.
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Howard was a courier for William Waters and “worked closely” with convicted Waterville drug dealer Maurice McCray, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Bangor. McCray, who was arrested in March 2012 and pleaded guilty in March 2013, is slated to be sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
On March 15, 2013, Howard and William Waters were arrested after the Waterville Police Department was tipped that Waters and Howard were traveling with the drugs through the city.
They were found after a search of several hours, and at police headquarters 645 oxycodone 30 mg tablets were found on Howard, which were seized.
Waterville police Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said at the time of the arrest the drugs had a street value of about $20,000.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Bangor, Howard was a courier for Waters.
Waters is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.
The press release said that Waters “worked closely” with Waterville drug dealer Maurice McCray. McCray was arrested in March 2012, when police busted what eventually totalled 21 people from the area and New York on a variety of charges related to a drug trafficking conspiracy.
McCray pleaded guilty in March 2013 to distributing oxycodone, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of oxycodone and 500 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine.
Others arrested and convicted in the 2012 bust have been sentenced over the past year.
The case was investigated by the Waterville Police Department, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
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