A Waldoboro man arrested in June as part of a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into crack cocaine and heroin distribution in Knox and Lincoln County pleaded guilty Monday, Aug. 24 to charges connected to the case.
Alphonso Belnavis, 45, waived his right to indictment by grand jury to plead guilty to aggravated trafficking, a class A felony, and unlawful possession of a schedule W drug, a class B felony. He also admit to a criminal forfeiture of $2,118.
Belnavis received concurrent four-year sentences for aggravated trafficking and unlawful possession of crack cocaine at a Maine Department of Corrections facility. He was also ordered to pay the minimum fine of $400 for each drug charge and $70 to the victim compensation fund.
He released all claims to the $2,118 recovered by law enforcement agents during the June 3 search of a Flanders Corner Road home, admitting the money was used to facilitate the sale of drugs.
According to Assistant Attorney General Jamie Guerrette, the MDEA, acting on information gained through a months-long investigation which included controlled purchases by informants, executed a search warrant on the Waldoboro home.
The Waldoboro Police Department, the Maine State Police, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and the Maine Warden Service assisted in the search, which also netted the arrest of Jeffrey Aviles, 26, of Manhattan, N.Y., and Dean Feltis, 48, of Warren.
Belnavis was apprehended as he was attempting to flush a sock down the toilet, which was found to contain 27 grams of crack cocaine. The state was prepared to present evidence that included admissions by Belnavis in interviews following his arrest, Guerrette said.
Aviles was arrested after police stopped the vehicle he was traveling in shortly after it left the Waldoboro home. He is facing charges of aggravated trafficking and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person for allegedly transporting heroin and crack between The Bronx and Waldoboro regularly for its repackaging and resale, according to a Maine Department of Public Safety press release.
Feltis attempted to flee the scene and was arrested after he was tackled by law enforcement on the back deck, department spokesman Steve McCausland said in the press release. He was charged with unlawful possession of a schedule W drug.
Aviles’ and Feltis’ cases are still pending. Both are scheduled to appear in Lincoln County Superior Court Sept. 14.
