Brooke V. Olum
A grand jury has indicted an Augusta woman who allegedly “arranged the purchase of drugs” for a Jefferson man who then died of an overdose.
Brooke V. Olum, 30, faces a single count of class A aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs in connection with the man’s death April 18, 2019. She was indicted Wednesday, March 11.
According to the indictment, Olum “did intentionally or knowingly traffick in” cocaine base, “death was in fact caused to” the overdose victim “by the use of one or more” drugs, and the cocaine base “was a contributing factor.”
The Maine Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of the man’s death as “acute intoxication” due to the “combined effects of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, and citalopram,” according to an affidavit by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Detective Scott Hayden.
Olum allegedly facilitated two drug transactions for the man on the day prior to his death, both in Gardiner, according to the affidavit.
Hayden and a patrol deputy responded to a report of the overdose death. They searched the man’s bedroom and seized his phone, along with drug paraphernalia and a small bag of bluish-green powder. A lab test later showed the powder to contain fentanyl and heroin, according to the affidavit.
With assistance from the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the Augusta Police Department, Hayden unlocked the phone and downloaded information from it with the data-extraction program Cellebrite.
Hayden “found text messages indicative of drug activity” between the man and a phone number he tracked to Olum, he said in the affidavit.
In a text message late April 17, Olum told the man to wait because “one of my other regulars needs as well and I’m going to ride with her because it makes her feel better and safer.” She told the man she would have him meet her later.
Hayden and investigators from the Augusta Police Department and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency interviewed Olum on April 23.
Olum admitted that she had arranged for the man to buy drugs from another man in the parking lot of a redemption center in downtown Gardiner, according to the affidavit.
Hayden obtained warrants for the man’s cellphone carrier records and Olum’s. With a combination of cellphone location data, surveillance video, and interviews, he determined that Olum had likely facilitated one transaction around mid-afternoon and another around midnight.
Hayden obtained a warrant for Olum’s arrest Jan. 13 and arrested her in Vassalboro the next day.
Investigators interviewed a man suspected as the source of the drugs, but neither he nor anyone else has been charged in the case.
Lt. Michael Murphy, of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, said that “barring new information,” the investigation is closed.
Olum remains in custody at Two Bridges Regional Jail with bail set at $5,000 cash. Her arraignment will take place at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset at 8:30 a.m. April 13.
The court has appointed defense attorney Christopher Ledwick to represent Olum. Ledwick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Olum was in the news last year when another woman allegedly cut her throat during an argument at an Augusta residence Feb. 11, 2019.
Police believe the other woman, Quashay “Q.P.” Phillips, was working with New York City gangs to distribute drugs in central Maine, according to news reports. She allegedly cut Olum’s throat because Olum would not go to Walmart for her.
A surgeon said the cut narrowly missed Olum’s carotid artery, according to the reports. Had it severed the artery, Olum probably would have died.
Phillips has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault.
