AUGUSTA — A former Augusta woman whose car was caught on camera during a September burglary in West Gardiner and who had a bag of heroin in her bra at the jail was sentenced Tuesday to serve an initial nine months behind bars.

The remainder of the six-year sentence for Kristen N. Swift, 27, most recently of Lewiston, was suspended, and she was placed on probation for three years. Her first name is also spelled Kristin in some court documents.

A homeowner’s surveillance camera caught Swift and a man breaking into and stealing a laptop from a West Gardiner home on Sept. 18, 2015.

Then when Swift was arrested for a bail violation Oct. 14, 2015, police found crack cocaine and heroin at the 14 Orchard St., Augusta, home she was sharing with Joseph Oliveira Jr., 26, and several children.

After Swift was taken to the Kennebec County jail, a strip search there located 0.6 grams of heroin in her bra, the prosecutor said.

Swift pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center to burglary, theft, violating conditions of release, trafficking in prison contraband and unlawful possession of drugs as well as to a March 18, 2015, charge of violating a protective order.

Swift’s defense attorney, Pamela Ames, told Justice Michaela Murphy that the six-year sentence reflects the fact that charges of trafficking in cocaine and heroin are being dismissed.

“I know that this is high for a first offense,” Ames said. “The goal is to give her a county jail sentence.”

Ames said Swift has been held in Cumberland County jail.

“She’s been doing very well down there,” Ames told the judge. “She already has four months in and will get credit for time served.”

Oliveira also was in court on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to operating after revocation and violating conditions of release, both occurring Sept. 15, 2015, in Augusta.

He was sentenced to 10 months in prison. According to the prosecutor, Oliveira was driving Swift’s vehicle at the time, and she was a passenger.

Oliveira’s attorney, Lisa Whittier, told the judge that Oliveria has pending drug charges.

In separate hearings also held Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center, two people were sentenced on charges of defrauding the state’s welfare system.

• Robert Vear, 57, of Waterville, pleaded guilty to theft by deception, which occurred from May 1, 2009 to Feb. 28, 2015; and two counts of unsworn falsification, April 4, 2013, and April 5, 2014.

The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Gregg Bernstein, said Vear received $9,856 in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “by consistently representing he was living alone and the household had no income.” Bernstein said that Vear’s wife was living in the household and she was employed.

“If this was disclosed, he would not have been paid,” Bernstein said.

Vear was sentenced to two years in jail, with all but 60 days suspended, and two years of probation. He is to report to jail March 10 to begin serving the sentence. He also was ordered to pay $9,856 restitution.

• Sarah Mason, 35, of Clinton, pleaded guilty to theft by deception, which occurred July 2010 to September 2014, and to three counts of unsworn falsification, Dec. 4, 2012, June 3, 2013, and June 11, 2014.

She was ordered to pay $18,143 restitution.

Mason is to report to jail March 4 to begin serving the sentence.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

One suspect in last month’s theft of donations from the Isaac F. Umberhine Library in Richmond has been arrested and two more suspects still are being sought.

Richmond police Chief Scott MacMaster said Patrick Roy Alexander, 19, of Richmond, was arrested Thursday after a witness confirmed he was one of the two men who came into the library to warm up on the cold morning of Jan. 20.

“He was the one who grabbed the jug and ran,” MacMaster said.

MacMaster said Officer James Donnell recognized the car that was seen in photos captured from the library’s security camera on the day of the theft. Donnell stopped the car at the Family Dollar store on Main Street and questioned the car’s occupants. With a photo taken during the stop, Donnell was able to get the witness identification.

MacMaster said Alexander was arrested for violating the conditions of his release and was charged with theft.

Police are seeking two additional suspects: Trevor Korineck, 20, of Richmond, and Alexander Nappe, 20, whose last known address was in Auburn. Nappe’s Facebook page lists his hometown as Hartford, Connecticut.

“If we don’t locate them, we’ll do arrest warrants,” MacMaster said.

Library officials estimated they lost around $150 when the donation jug was taken two weeks ago. A gofundme campaign was set up with a target of $500 to replace the lost donations. Within a day, that target had been exceeded. As of Tuesday, the total donated was $1,620.

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ

The Augusta Police Department is investigating the use of several counterfeit $20 bills at three businesses in the area, according to Lt. Chris Read.

Read said the department took incident reports over the last few days from the Hannaford supermarket on Cony Street, Mainly Groceries on Northern Avenue and the J&S Oil Convenience Store on Mount Vernon Avenue.

The bills appear to be of good quality, with nothing to distinguish them from legitimate currency, Read said, except that they feel different because they aren’t made with the same type of paper used by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

“We want to get the word out to businesses and let them know that these $20 bills are what’s going around,” Read said.

Because it is an ongoing investigation, Read couldn’t offer many more details, but he said Augusta police are following leads and reviewing surveillance footage from the businesses.

Read said anyone with information on counterfeit money should call the Augusta Police Department at 623-2370.

Jason Pafundi — 621-5663

jpafundi@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ

AUGUSTA — One of the women arrested in a drug raid Friday in Vassalboro was freed Monday after a court hearing involving an unpaid fine.

Kendra Vigue, 34, of Gardiner, was arrested on a warrant charging her with failure to pay fines on convictions from 2011 and 2013 for unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and operating after suspension or revocation.

In a video hearing during which Vigue was at the Kennebec County jail and Judge Evert Fowle was on the bench in the Capital Judicial Center, she told him she had not paid the $884 in fines because she was unemployed and had no money.

When the judge asked her what she expected to happen, she told him, “I just hope that I can come pay you and everything goes well in the end.”

Fowle ordered her to pay $100 by Feb. 26, and he set a hearing for 8:30 a.m. that day, saying Vigue should come to court prepared to show why she should not be jailed to have her fine reduced by $25 to $100 per day. He told her that she could avoid the hearing by making the payment.

Vigue was to be released because no other complaints were filed against her.

Vigue was one of eight people arrested in a raid by Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigators at 38 Whitehouse Road in Vassalboro. Austin Bond, 25, of Jefferson, who was charged with one count of possession of oxycodone, was released Saturday on $5,000 bail.

The others arrested face various drug trafficking or possession charges and were advised of their charges by Fowle, who also set bail. Fowle also told those charged with aggravated trafficking that a conviction carries a minimum sentence of four years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

During the raid, agents reported seizing 28 grams of heroin, 65 grams of crack or cocaine base, 25 grams of powdered cocaine, 15 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms and $2,000 in cash believed to be connected to drug sales, according to the release.

Here is a list of those making an initial appearance via video before Fowle on Monday:

• Richard “Stash” Baker, 34, of New York City, aggravated trafficking in heroin and crack cocaine and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; $50,000 bail.

• Joseph “Joe Daddy” Gagnon, 59, of Vassalboro, aggravated trafficking in heroin and crack cocaine and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; $30,000 bail.

• Tayshaun Gibson, 25, of Albany, New York, illegal possession of drugs; $20,000 bail.

• Alijah (also Elijah) Jenkins, 22, of Troy, New York, who was charged with aggravated trafficking in heroin and crack cocaine; $20,000 bail.

• Jocelyn Jones, 28, of China, aggravated trafficking in heroin and crack cocaine and possession of scheduled drugs; $10,000 bail.

• Rosemily Rivera, 24, of Troy, New York, possession of illegal drugs; $10,000 bail.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams