A retired Maine state trooper will spend one year in jail for trafficking cocaine and fentanyl.
Jeffrey Linscott, 52, of Buxton, pleaded guilty Monday to the drug charges stemming from a December 2017 arrest.
Prosecutors say Linscott appeared to be living a "double life." After a long career in law enforcement and the military, 22-year marriage, and years of service to his community and church, Linscott was caught selling drugs to a confidential informant in a Hannford parking lot last year.
"He knew right from wrong," said prosecutor Johanna Gauvreau. "We are in an opioid crisis. He’s not using the product to support his addiction… he is making them for financial gain."
Linscott’s attorneys say he was suffering from untreated PTSD and other mental health issues. Linscott and his wife were separated, and he was in a relationship with another woman.
"Jeff wasn’t an addict, but the woman he was with was," said defense attorney Gene Libby. "Jeff had gone through his and [his wife’s] life savings supporting this woman's habit until he could support it no longer, and then he made the stupid judgement that he could buy some and support her habit without costing him any more."
Linscott got choked up addressing Justice Ronald Cole in a Portland courtroom Monday morning.
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"I’d like to apologize to the men and women in blue, my state police family," he said. "The citizens of Maine did not expect these actions, and for my actions I am extremely sorry."
Linscott said he has been working on himself, attending counselling, getting treatment for PTSD, and even completed his bachelor degree so he can return to being a productive, working member of society. He broke down asking his family for forgiveness.
"I'd like to apologize first and foremost to my wife Kimberly," he said. "She has kept her vows. I did not keep mine. Just the fact that she let me re-enter her life again speaks volumes about her grace."
Kimberly Linscott spoke on her husband’s behalf, and asked the judge for a light sentence.
"I ask for your mercy and grace, because that brief, dark period of time was a snap shot," she said. "It’s not who my husband is."
Justice Cole ordered Linscott to report to jail on July 10. In his sentencing, he said he had to weigh Linscott’s years of public service with the admission that he was selling a deadly drug, 50 times more potent than heroin. Cole said Linscott’s likelihood for rehabilitation was high, and that he was lucky to have the support of his loved ones.
Linscott’s drug conviction will not affect his ability to collect his state pension, according to his lawyer.
