AUGUSTA — A Bronx, New York, woman will spend 18 months in jail for unlawful trafficking in heroin after she was caught in the act of bagging heroin in the back bedroom of a residence on Weeks Mills Road in China.
Erica D. “Ebony” Bowman, 25, pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center to one charge of unlawful trafficking that occurred Nov. 17, 2016, in China. A second charge of unlawful trafficking in cocaine base from the same date and place was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley said officers from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency executed a search warrant after having the home under surveillance for some time for suspected drug activity.
Sibley said Bowman, who has no prior criminal record, was unknown to authorities prior to the raid.
“She admitted to Officer (Kelly) Hooper she was involved in this process to make a little money,” Sibley told the judge.
Sibley said there were 13 retail bags, each containing about half a gram of heroin and worth about $100 to $120 per bag.
Bowman’s attorney, Douglas Jennings, agreed that he believed it was in Bowman’s best interests to accept the plea and sentence. He also asked for the minimum mandatory $400 to be suspended, and Justice Harold Stewart II agreed.
“My client’s basically homeless and has no assets at the moment,” Jennings said.
She has been jailed in lieu of bail since she was arrested in November.
Sarah Fuchswanz, 33, of China, who also was arrested as a result of the same raid, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in the same courthouse at her arraignment on an indictment charging her with two counts of unlawful trafficking in drugs.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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