FARMINGTON — A former Rangeley man who shot and killed a burglar in July 2016 is expected to plead guilty in federal court in Bangor on Friday to drug and gun charges.
Jordan Richard, 25, of New Vineyard, was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2017 on two counts of distributing a mixture or substance containing cocaine.
Richard signed an agreement June 19 to waive indictment to plead guilty to two new federal charges: conspiring to distribute illegal drugs and discharging a gun in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.
The agreement was also signed by his defense attorney, Leonard Sharon, on June 19, and by federal prosecutors Monday.
The maximum penalty for a conviction on the drug charge is 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million and a term of supervised release of not less than three years.
The mandatory minimum penalty on the firearm charge is at least 10 years and up to life, which must be served consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed on the drug charge. Richard also faces a maximum fine of $250,0000 and a term of supervised release of not more than five years, according to the agreement.
The firearm was discharged during a home invasion July 28, 2016, at an apartment where Richard lived in Rangeley. He killed one of two men who came to his residence to rob him, according to information in a federal court document.
According to the prosecution’s version of the drug offense, Richard would obtain cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone from an out-of-state supplier. He would weigh out and package the drugs for resale from his home on Main Street in Rangeley, according to the court document.
Richard stored the drugs and drug proceeds at his residence, including in a safe in an upstairs bedroom. He moved to New Vineyard after the July 28 burglary.
According to court records, he continued to buy drugs from out of state and to sell them from his new home.
In March, April and September 2017, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration used a confidential source to conduct controlled purchases of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl from Richard. Law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Richard’s New Vineyard residence where they recovered evidence of the defendant’s continued drug-trafficking, including a bag of oxycodone tablets.
In relation to the firearm charge, two men, both armed with knives, forced entry to Richard’s apartment in Rangeley.
One intruder chased Richard into the kitchen at the back of the residence and the two began to fight. The second intruder forced Richard’s drug co-conspirator to the floor in the living room and held a knife to him “demanding to know, ‘Where is it?'” according to the court document.
While Richard and the intruder continued to fight in the back of the residence, the other intruder became distracted by a neighbor who came to the door to investigate the disturbance. The drug co-conspirator fled past Richard who was still fighting with one of the intruders.
When the co-conspirator returned a short time later, he found Richard had been stabbed and was bleeding and the intruder who had been fighting with the co-conspirator had been shot and was lying dead in Richard’s bedroom, according to court records.
Richard gave the co-conspirator a bag of cocaine and a bag of oxycodone tablets from a safe in an upstairs bedroom and told the co-conspirator to get the drugs out of the house, which was done, according to the document.
When police and paramedics arrived, Richard told first responders two men had broken into his residence, and following a fight, he had shot and killed one of them.
Neighbors confirmed two men had broken into Richard’s residence. They also reported that the other intruder fled the scene on foot after a neighbor had struck him in the head with a hammer to stop his assault on Richard.
Crime scene investigators found that the intruder had been shot twice with a Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic handgun found in the bedroom. They also found two spent casings and several live rounds.
The intruder who was found dead in the bedroom was holding a small bag containing a substance that tested positive for fentanyl, according to the court document.
U.S. Border Patrol agents later arrested the other intruder a short distance away with an injury to his head and a bag of fentanyl in his pocket.
A search warrant was executed and investigators found significant evidence of a fight and drug distribution, including scales, packaging material, cellular phones, and drug ledgers, and a safe that yielded a large amount of cocaine and $20,883 in cash.
Under the plea agreement, the $20,883 and the handgun will be forfeited.
According to information provided by police in July 2016, the man who died at the scene was Michael Bokun, 29, of New York City. The medical examiner’s office said Bokun died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The second man who was injured was Hector Munoz, 48, of New York City.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
Jordan Richard
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