PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video above aired Nov. 18, 2021.
A Portland man faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to drug and gun charges in connection with an overdose death in 2020.
Hunter York, 23, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to one count each of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, distribution of fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
On Jan. 31, 2020, York sold a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl to a Saco resident who overdosed on the drugs and died the following day, according to court documents.
On Feb. 5, 2020, police stopped a vehicle York was driving, and seized MDMA ("ecstasy"), fentanyl, and two guns, and police later found more than 800 grams of fentanyl and two other loaded handguns in his Dartmouth Street apartment, court documents stated.
Prosecutors said on Nov. 18, 2021, while York was out on bail for the original charges, Portland police stopped him again and seized 12 grams of fentanyl.
York faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10 million.
The case was investigated by the Portland, Saco, and Biddeford police departments, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.