Madawaska Man Faces up to 20 Years in Prison for Importing Drugs

A 39-year-old Madawaska man pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to illegally importing drugs commonly known a Ritalin and Xanax. 

Court records show that on February 22, a package from the Philippines addressed to Tristan Nelson arrived at the Madawaska post office. The package contained about 950 methylphenidate (Ritalin) pills and about 450 alprazolam (Xanax) pills.

Nelson went to the post office and accepted the package, according to U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank. The defendant later admitted to agents that he purchased the pills online. He also said that he knew the pills were shipped to him from outside of the United States and that he intended to distribute some of the pills.

Nelson faces up to 20 years in prison, between three years and life on supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine for importing methylphenidate. He also faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for importing alprazolam.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.