A Linneus man has been sentenced in connection with a drug trafficking operation in northern Maine. James Valiante, 43, received a 36-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann in Bangor on Tuesday. Valiante had previously pleaded guilty on August 22, 2024, to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Court records indicate that between January 2018 and December 2021, Valiante and his associates trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl across Penobscot and Aroostook counties. He allegedly coordinated the acquisition of drugs through coded communications with other conspirators and distributed them via a network of dealers in Aroostook County.
The case involves charges against twenty-two defendants linked to this extensive drug trafficking conspiracy in northern Maine. With Valiante’s sentencing, twenty individuals have now been sentenced. Two others, Daquan Corbett and Daviston Jackson, who were convicted after a two-week trial in December 2024, are awaiting sentencing.
Several other defendants have also received sentences ranging from time served to decades in prison for their roles in the drug trafficking activities:
– Andrew Adams (32) was sentenced to ten years.
– Matthew Catalano (38) received a sentence of 165 months.
– Christopher Coty (44) was given four years.
– Jason Cunrod (42) received 48 months.
– Blaine Footman (38) was sentenced to five years.
– Nicole Footman (41) received three years.
– Dwight Gary Jr. (54) served approximately five months.
– Carol Gordon (53) served about 31 months plus six months of community confinement.
– Thomas Hammond (26) was sentenced to 84 months.
– Joshua Jerrell (30) served around 36 months.
– James King (55) received a sentence of 165 months.
– Shelby Loring (29) served approximately 32 months.
– Danielle McBreairty (34) was sentenced to twenty years.
– John Miller (24) received a sentence of 54 months.
– Aaron Rodgers (43) served around 33 months.
– Wayne Smith (33) was sentenced to 85 months.
– Joshua Young (48), after serving about two months, faces an additional 24-month home detention period.
– Tamara Davis (29), from Fall River, MA, served roughly fourteen months.
Awaiting sentencing are Daquan Corbett from Brockton, MA, scheduled for August 11, 2025; and Daviston Jackson from Boston, MA.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; along with local police departments from Orono, Bangor, Brewer, Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged the cooperation from the Maine State Attorney General’s Office and the Aroostook County District Attorney’s Office.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation which targets high-level criminal organizations through collaboration among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
