A Boothbay Harbor man pleaded guilty Friday, Feb. 27 to two felony charges stemming from furnishing and importing illegal drugs he purchased online.
Aaron Witt, 31, pleaded guilty in Lincoln County Superior Court to aggravated furnishing in schedule W drugs, a class B felony; and illegal importation of scheduled drugs, a class C felony.
He was sentenced to 24 months in a Maine Department of Corrections facility for each count. The sentences will be served concurrently with each other and with a separate unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs conviction from Knox County.
Witt was arrested in December after the Boothbay Harbor Police Department and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency searched his residence. Witt was subject to random search as part of his probation conditions from a prior conviction.
Law enforcement found containers with powder in them, later identified as an illegal substance known as Alpha-PHP.
According to Witt’s attorney, Andrews Campbell, Witt was under the impression that A-PHP, which he bought from vendors in Europe, was a legal substance in Maine. Campbell said Witt was experimenting with different chemical compounds in an effort to self-medicate himself.
In January, Campbell filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Witt, claiming that A-PHP was a legal substance. In court on Feb. 27, Campbell said that, while not included in Maine statute, decisions by the criminal court clearly indicated A-PHP was considered illegal.
Witt gave up his previously requested jury trial to plead guilty to both counts. “I’m guilty of the exploration of consciousness,” Witt told the court.
Justice Daniel Billings asked Witt several standard questions after Witt entered his plea. When asked if there was any medication he was supposed to take but had not, he answered, “medical marijuana.”
Witt had been held at Two Bridges Regional Jail pending trial. He was transferred to Maine Correctional Center in Windham following his plea. Witt’s earliest possible release date is Jan. 19, 2017, according to the Maine Department of Corrections online prisoner search.
