FARMINGTON, Maine — A former Maine assistant district attorney facing charges in a $13 million pot conspiracy appeared in court Friday. NEWS CENTER Maine learned from court documents last week 13 suspects were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to illegally cultivate and sell marijuana at Narrow Gauge Distributors from 2016 through July 2020.
One of those suspects was Kayla Alves, who, at the time charges were filed, was a Franklin County assistant district attorney. She is accused of telling a defendant in the case, former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Bradley Scovil, he was under investigation.
Alves is also accused of tampering with evidence for deleting incriminating text messages.
Authorities did not present any new evidence and simply entered a previously-shared affidavit to support probable cause and requested the court proceed with prosecuting Alves.
The FBI testified Friday Alves told them she informed Scovil he was under investigation. After that, Scovil reportedly shared that information with Lucas Sirois of Farmington, the alleged mastermind of the marijuana operation, which complicated the investigation.
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After Sirois learned of the investigation, authorities said criminal communications using his phone number plummeted, and Scovil and Sirois changed the way they shared information.
Prosecutors also said Alves deleted incriminating text messages from her phone going back to December 2019. She allegedly deleted those texts between July 8 and July 22 after she was approached by the FBI.
The defense called FBI Special Agent Thimothy Theriault to testify. While on the stand, Theriault was asked how Alves learned about the investigation and whether other people may have shared information with Scovil.
Alves said she learned about the information from a paralegal in her office. During a voluntary interview, Alves admitted to telling Scovil he was being followed as part of an investigation, not thinking it was a big deal, according to Theriault. In hindsight, Alves said she could see how that thinking was flawed, according to Theriault.
The defense also argued it's not clear Alves provided the critical piece of information to Scovil and tipped him off the investigation or that deleting text messages is a crime.
The judge will review the evidence and determine whether the case can move forward to trial at a later date.