A former Chelsea man who alleged he had been held against his will in July 2013 by two men he knew from taking drugs with them was sentenced Thursday in federal court on drug conspiracy charges.
Ryan J. Partridge, 25, most recently from Augusta, had pleaded guilty last September to an indictment charging him with conspiring to distribute oxycodone and heroin in central Maine in 2011.
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Judge John A. Woodcock Jr., during a hearing held Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, sentenced Partridge to 50 months in prison. Partridge also was sentenced to three years of supervised release once his prison term is complete, said his attorney, Zachary Brandmeir. Woodcock ordered Partridge to pay a $100 special assessment fee but did not impose a fine.
Brandmeir declined to comment on the sentence.
Partridge was accused of conspiring with Barry Diaz, among others, to distribute the drugs.
According to the prosecution’s version of events, Partridge talked to investigators in July 2013. “Partridge described himself as Diaz’s largest trafficker in the Augusta area. Partridge never ran out of heroin, cocaine, or pills when he was supplied by Diaz.”
That document was filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Joyce. Diaz was sentenced in mid January to 22 1/2 years in federal prison followed by six years of supervised release.
Partridge is also known as “Moon Dog” and “Moon,” according to federal court documents.
Partridge has been in federal custody since his arrest on Jan. 17, 2014. A warrant for his arrest was issued Oct. 22, 2013, when a federal grand jury indicted him on the charge, saying the offense occurred between January and August 2011. Partridge pleaded guilty on Sept. 2, 2014.
Earlier, Partridge said he was the victim of a July 17, 2013, kidnapping in Chelsea, but he disappeared when the two men charged went to trial.
In January 2014, the two defendants in that case, Ricardo David Perry, then 19, of Lancaster, Pa., and Eugene R. Charleston, then 20, of Manhattan, N.Y., were convicted of criminal restraint, sentenced to five months in jail each and given credit for five months served while awaiting trial.
In exchange for the pleas, the state prosecutor’s office dismissed charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and terrorizing, citing Partridge’s disappearance.
Staff writer Craig Crosby contributed to this report.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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