AUGUSTA — A former Augusta man was sentenced Monday at the Capital Judicial Center on a charge of unlawful operation of a methamphetamine lab.
Patrick Shorey, 26, pleaded guilty to that charge in September. Two other charges, for trafficking and child endangerment, were dropped.
Shorey was sentenced to three years in prison, with all but six months suspended, and a year of probation.
The sentence was a joint recommendation of the state’s Attorney General’s Office and Shorey’s attorney.
Shorey was arrested last fall after drug agents accused him of running a methamphetamine lab in his home on Mount Vernon Avenue in Augusta with children present.
When Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents and Augusta police executed a search of the two-story home, they found several items indicating methamphetamine manufacturing was taking place, including pseudoephedrine blister packs, lye, hydrogen chloride gas generators and lithium batteries that were cut open, as well as a white residue that was suspected of being methamphetamine.
In addition, they found about $1,200 in cash.
Because Shorey lived there with his wife and two children, he was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Kaela Jalbert, Shorey’s attorney, said her client is pursuing the return of the cash seized in the arrest. Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley confirmed her office is not seeking civil forfeiture.
When he appeared in court Monday before Justice Robert Mullen, Shorey was wearing prison garb from Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
In mid-September, a Lincoln County grand jury indicted Shorey on a charge of manslaughter and related offenses, in the June 2017 death of a Connecticut woman in Dresden, and he was arrested shortly after that in Waterville.
In addition to the manslaughter charge, the grand jury also indicted Shorey on charges operating under the influence resulting in death, operating under the influence resulting in injury, aggravated driving to endanger, unlawful possession of a scheduled drug, and operating a vehicle without a license.
The charges stem from an investigation into the crash that killed Carolyn Blouin, 75, of Rockville, Connecticut, and seriously injured her husband, Charles Blouin, 81, on June 2, 2017, on Route 27 in Dresden.
Shorey was also injured in the crash.
The investigation revealed that Shorey’s car crossed the centerline and hit the Blouin vehicle head-on.
Shorey’s next scheduled court appearance in that case is Nov. 5 in Lincoln County.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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