A Maine man was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to 15 years on drug and other charges.
Marcus Mello, 27, received a sentence of 181 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release for distributing fentanyl, using or carrying a dangerous weapon in a drug crime and failing to appear before the court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Mello pleaded guilty on Feb. 6.
In May 2020, Mello sold 12 “percs,” a term used for Percocet or Oxycodone pills, to a 59-year-old York County woman, who was found unconscious in a parked vehicle shortly after and could not be revived, according to court records cited by the DOJ.
An autopsy found that she had died from the combined effects of multiple substances, including fentanyl. Text messages on her phone showed that she had bought pills from Mello. A baggie marked with images of skulls and 10 blue pills inside was found in her clothing. A chemical analysis revealed that the pills contained fentanyl, not oxycodone.
According to the court records, Mello continued to sell the pills, including to a police informant, after learning that the woman had fatally overdosed, according to the DOJ.
When Mello was arrested in July 2020, investigators recovered more than $6,300; a loaded handgun; and more than 400 pills. Blue pills that comprised all but 10 of the recovered pills tested positive for fentanyl, the DOJ said. The remaining white pills tested positive for oxycodone.
Mello appeared in court for jury selection, but when he did not show for his trial on two consecutive days, he was arrested at a residence in South Portland, where law enforcement found several bags of white powder, including one in Mello’s shirt pocket, according to the DOJ.
