Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Bangor, Maine:  A Surry man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Bangor for holding for sale counterfeit drugs, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Adam Fitzherbert, 55, to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. Fitzherbert pleaded guilty on September 3, 2019.

According to court records, on February 6, 2018, Fitzherbert was arrested at his residence in Surry while agents were executing a search warrant there. While executing the warrant, agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recovered 91 counterfeit Oxycodone HCL pills from Fitzherbert’s bedroom that were later found to contain carfentanil. Fitzherbert admitted purchasing the pills through a “dark web” marketplace.

“The opioid epidemic that has resulted in overdoses and deaths is a national public health crisis. Those who contribute to that crisis by illicitly distributing opioids, whether online or through conventional drug distribution methods, will be brought to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey J. Ebersole, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ New York Field Office. “The FDA is fully committed to disrupting and dismantling networks engaged in the manufacturing and sale of illicit opioids and counterfeit prescription drugs. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who threaten the health and safety of Americans by distributing dangerous products.”

FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Maine State Police, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Ellsworth Police Department investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.

Topic(s):
Drug Trafficking
Component(s):
USAO - Maine
Contact:
Johnathan G. Nathans Assistant U.S Attorney Tel: (207) 780-3257