RUMFORD, Maine —
Late Sunday evening, the Rumford Police drug canine team stopped a vehicle on Hancock Street in Rumford after receiving multiple complaints of erratic operation from the public in addition to observing a vehicle defect.
During the traffic stop, officers said they discovered a man hiding face down on the floorboard of the back-seat compartment of the vehicle. When the officers attempted to identify the man and determine the reason for his furtive conduct, they said the man became uncooperative and non-compliant as he started reaching inside his pants pockets for something after being told not to. Fearing that the man may be reaching for a weapon, the officers subsequently struggled with the man to gain control of him and subsequently restrained him in handcuffs. Although a pat-down search revealed no dangerous weapons, police quickly determined that the man was attempting to reach for three bags of drugs concealed in his pants.
Officers subsequently seized approximately 60 grams of fentanyl and 15 grams of crack cocaine. They said the seizure represents about 600 individual, potentially fatal doses of fentanyl and 45 doses of crack cocaine. Rumford police said the combined street value for the drugs is estimated at approximately $17,000.
The man was arrested but police said he refused to identify himself. Officers were eventually able to confirm that the man was Jerry Philogene, 29, of Roxbury, Massachusetts and that he had been arrested and convicted by Maine Drug Enforcement Agency three years ago for felony aggravated drug trafficking on Chase Avenue in Mexico.
Phillogene is now charged with:
- Class A aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs
- Class D refusing to submit to arrest or detention
- Class E failure to provide name and address
If convicted, Philogene faces up to 30 years in prison for the drug trafficking charge. He was transported to the Oxford County Jail in South Paris where a friend posted $5,000.00 cash bail hours later.
Philogene is expected to appear for his initial arraignment at the Maine District Court in Rumford on August 10 at 8:30 a.m.
