В Соммерсете 8 организациям выделили $40,5 тыс. из средств конфискованных у китайских контрабандистов марихуаны

SKOWHEGAN — Eight Somerset County organizations were awarded funds that came from convictions in some of the cases stemming from a crackdown on illegal cannabis growing operations, authorities announced last week. Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, said in a news release that she and Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster together decided to give the funds to each organization after requested proposals earlier this summer. The total of $40,550 comes from donations from four people who earlier this year made plea deals with Maloney’s office. Each agreed to donate $10,000 to a Somerset County nonprofit approved by Maloney’s office. The other $550 came from donations made as part of a criminal speeding case and an unauthorized use of property case, Maloney said. The grants awarded were: • $30,000 for the Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield to renovate a community center space. • $300 for the Skowhegan Food Cupboard, a local food pantry. • $250 for the New Hope Women’s Shelter in Solon, which serves those affected by domestic abuse, dating violence, and stalking. • $1,000 for Lake George Regional Park in Skowhegan and Canaan. • $2,000 for the Bijou Theater and Enrichment Center in Pittsfield. • $1,000 for Hospice Volunteers of Somerset County. • $2,000 for the Fairfield Police Athletic League, which fosters connections between law enforcement and local youth. • $4,000 for the town of Madison to purchase recreation equipment. Most of the organizations listed are in the “regular rotation” for receiving funds the district attorney’s office collects as donations from defendants in lieu of community service. Only Maine Central Institute reached out to her office specifically in response to her call for applications, Maloney said. “These donations allow funds obtained through case settlements to be redirected into programs and projects that strengthen families, support young people, care for those in need, and build stronger communities,” Maloney said in a statement. Lancaster said in a statement he was proud to partner with the district attorney’s office to make sure the funds had an impact on the community. “Each of these organizations plays an important role in improving the lives of Somerset County residents,” the sheriff said. The money comes from recent plea agreements in four of the 16 criminal cases filed in Somerset County during the crackdown on illegal grow houses in rural Maine — which federal prosecutors at one point said totaled 200 and suggested could be connected to organized, transnational crime organizations with ties to China. Lancaster’s office executed two dozen search warrants and made more than a dozen arrests amid the wave of enforcement that began in early 2024. Until recently, most of the Somerset County cases had been lingering on the court’s docket, in some cases, for close to two years, in part because of the difficulty of finding Cantonese-English interpreters to facilitate the proceedings. This spring, the courts called in interpreters from out of state to conduct a series of hearings in several cases that had pending motions. The four who, during that stretch, struck agreements and made donations were: Shubing Gao, 48, and Yihui Chen, 53, both of Brooklyn, New York; Xinwen Zhang, 72, of Boston; and Wenfeng Chen, 53, of Malden, Massachusetts. In exchange for prosecutors’ dismissal of marijuana cultivation and drug trafficking charges, each pleaded guilty to one felony-level Class C charge related to improper handling of hazardous waste, which indicates each “did handle hazardous waste at any location knowing or consciously disregarding a risk that such location does not have a proper license or permit as may be required for such treatment, storage or disposal.” Each was ordered to comply with the terms of a 12-month deferred disposition, with requirements to make a $10,000 donation to a Somerset County nonprofit approved by prosecutors; pay a $35 monthly supervision fee; refrain from growing marijuana, obtaining a marijuana cultivation license and using and possessing the drug; and stay out of Maine. If they comply with those terms for the year, no further action will be taken. If they violate any of them, a judge will have full discretion to decide a sentence. Maloney, who handled these cases personally, credited a defense attorney for suggesting the hazardous waste offense that has been at the center of the four recent plea agreements. Attorneys for those who pleaded guilty said in court they believed the convictions for that offense would not result in automatic deportation of their clients. They indicated the convictions might result in the initiation of removal proceedings but said federal immigration authorities would not consider that offense a “crime of moral turpitude,” a classification that would be almost certain to result in deportation.