A Dresden man pleaded guilty to oxycodone trafficking in Knox County Superior Court Monday, Sept. 22.
Joseph Dupaw, 69, is scheduled to be sentenced in January, but the agreed-upon sentence is seven years with all but 18 months suspended. Justice Daniel Billings accepted Dupaw’s guilty plea.
Dupaw was arrested in February 2013 after an undercover drug officer made a buy from a co-defendant of Dupaw in Lincoln County. Dupaw then arrived in Rockland and was boarding a ferry to Vinalhaven to sell oxycodone on the island, according to police. He was found with 200 pills on him.
He has been held in lieu of $100,000 bail since his arrest.
At the time of his initial court appearance on the charge more than 18 months ago, District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said Dupaw fit the criteria of a career criminal as much as anyone he’s ever seen.
Dupaw has a criminal record dating back to 1965, including an armed robbery in 1975 in Vermont, a bank robbery in 1977 in Vermont, and an armed robbery in Maine for which he also was convicted in federal court in 1998 for possession of a firearm by a felon.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley is prosecuting the case. Dupaw is being represented by attorney Andrews Campbell.
