AUBURN — A Litchfield man was charged this week with felony drug and gun crimes in connection with an August police standoff.
James Bourgoin
An Androscoggin County grand jury handed up an indictment Tuesday charging James “JJ” J. Bourgoin, 38, with two counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs — methamphetamine and fentanyl — each count punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
He faces a charge of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Bourgoin also was charged with unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
And he was charged with two misdemeanors: unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and creating a police standoff.
Bourgoin is being held at the Androscoggin County Jail without bail on alleged probation violations. His bail on the new charges is $10,000 cash.
He held police at bay at a single-family home at 128 Poland Spring Road in Auburn on Aug. 10, creating a four-hour standoff, but was eventually arrested without incident, police said.
Bourgoin had been suspected of illegal drug trafficking.
There had been an outstanding warrant for his arrest to revoke his probation for allegedly not reporting to his probation officer and other alleged violations, which he has denied.
Because some of the charges are felonies, Bourgoin hadn’t been asked to enter a plea to any of them during an earlier court appearance.
Police said that after the standoff they confiscated a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun with a loaded magazine, 18 grams of crystal methamphetamine, five grams of fentanyl, 26 Suboxone strips, two Suboxone in pill form, a digital scale and other evidence of drug trafficking.
According to a police affidavit, officers began using a public address system at the home shortly after midnight, urging Bourgoin and another man to exit the building.
Police were able to eventually reach Bourgoin by cellphone and asked him to leave the house.
He refused and said the other man, identified as Chad Gomes, would not be coming out either.
Bourgoin told police that Gomes was “my only collateral.”
When he was told that the longer the standoff dragged on, “it would not look good for him, he said, ‘Yeah, it’s called a hostage. I got a hostage, right, yeah,’” according to the affidavit.
Officers outside the home could see Bourgoin carrying a gun.
After Bourgoin talked about how severe his addiction was to methamphetamine, his girlfriend joined the call from a different phone, police said.
Bourgoin talked about killing himself with the gun, but later agreed to put it on the rear porch of the home, which he or Gomes eventually did, police said.
About 45 minutes later, Bourgoin and Gomes left the house and Bourgoin was taken to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center for evaluation, police said.
Police searched the home and found methamphetamine and fentanyl under a mattress in the room where Bourgoin had been staying.
Evidence suggested a large quantity of methamphetamine had been flushed down a toilet during the standoff, police said.
The homeowner said Bourgoin had been selling drugs and that Gomes had served as his driver.
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