A Jay resident, Thomas Ray Cook, 44, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor to charges of distributing narcotics and illegally possessing a firearm.
Court records show that in February 2025, Cook sold $600 worth of cocaine to a confidential source working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) from his home in Jay. The following month, he sold additional cocaine and seven firearms for $1,600 to the same source at a different location in Farmington. Cook is prohibited from owning firearms due to multiple prior felony convictions under Maine law, including Aggravated Operating after Habitual Offender Revocation and Eluding an Officer.
Cook faces up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine, and up to lifetime supervised release for the narcotics charge. For the firearms charge, he could receive up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing will occur after completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and MDEA conducted the investigation.
According to officials: “Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).”
