The 70-year-old Bremen resident and Episcopal priest who allegedly smuggled Suboxone to inmates at Two Bridges Regional Jail appeared in Lincoln County Superior Court today.
The brief hearing did not result in a resolution to the case, and the Rev. Stephen Foote was scheduled to return to court in late March.
Foote was arrested Nov. 1, 2012 and charged with felony trafficking in prison contraband after a joint, monthlong investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the jail.
The priest allegedly received the Suboxone from a third party outside the jail and brought it to two inmates, one of whom was a Bremen resident and former member of Foote’s parish. Authorities confiscated 10 sublingual strips of the drug.
Suboxone is the registered trademark for a medication containing the active ingredient buprenorphine hydrochloride, which reduces the symptoms of opiate dependence.
Opiate addicts can place the strips under the tongue to ease the symptoms of withdrawal, although the drug is also subject to abuse.
The inmates were charged with misdemeanor trafficking in prison contraband.
“He knew he was doing something wrong, but he thought he was helping a friend,” LCSO Lt. Michael Murphy said after the arrest.
Foote was the archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine from 1986-1990 and the dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland from 1990-2003.
He was the transition priest-in-charge at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Augusta at the time of his arrest. The arrest automatically triggered the church’s disciplinary process for clergy and Foote was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
Foote is free on $1000 unsecured bail.