Man gets 10 years for
drug dealing

Bangor Daily News
February 20, 2003

MACHIAS - A judge sentenced a Pleasant Point man Wednesday to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, telling him he should have been a leader rather than a dealer.Ralph Francis Jr., 65, was charged in 1999 with aggravated trafficking in OxyContin. It was 1999 when the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, working with area police, began to crack down on prescription drug abuse in Washington County. Francis was in the first wave of arrests.

Francis' record, including a felony narcotics violation in Connecticut for which he was on probation when he was arrested, was a factor in the lengthy sentence handed down Wednesday by Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter.

A jury had deliberated about 75 minutes to reach a guilty verdict during the two-day trial.

The state's key witness was Mark Moholland, formerly of Eastport, who claimed that the night he was given a body wire and money to buy OxyContin from Francis was a blur.

Moholland, who is in prison on a charge of aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants, said he was heavily into drugs during the period that led to Francis' arrest.

He also said that he feared his fellow inmates might harm him if he testified against Francis.

Assistant Attorney General Matt Erickson played a tape made during a drug buy, and Moholland admitted he recognized Francis' voice. "I don't recognize my voice," he told the jury.

During cross-examination, Francis' attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, hammered away at Moholland's character, referring to his driving record, which includes striking and killing a pedestrian in the Virgin Islands in the 1980s.

Toothaker also suggested that Moholland might have planted the pills on himself because he faced up to 40 years in prison for an automobile accident that in 1997 seriously injured a Calais woman.

Moholland said he regretted cooperating with police. "I grew up a sheriff's son," Moholland said, referring to his father, Reid Moholland, a longtime Washington County sheriff. "He didn't expect me to tell on people."

Then Toothaker asked Moholland if he ever bought any narcotics from Francis, and after a short pause Moholland said he had.

During closing arguments Erickson reminded the jury that it was Moholland who, after the undercover buy, turned over the three OxyContin tablets to MDEA.But Toothaker asked the jury to take into consideration Moholland's character. "Is he credible?" he asked.

The judge asked Francis if he had anything to say before sentencing. "What can I say?" Francis asked. He said that even if the judge sentenced him to the minimum mandatory four years, he did not know if he was going to "make it."

During sentencing, Hunter said that probation would not work for someone like Francis, who was on probation at the time he committed the 1999 crime. He also said that after his arrest Francis fled the jurisdiction of the court and had to be brought back from Florida.

When he imposed the 10-year sentence, the judge told Francis that he had not taken responsibility for any of his actions. "Young people need elders to lead in a positive way. Someone your age should not exploit others," he said.