2 brothers plead guilty to drug charges in Maine

BANGOR, Maine — Two Maine men pleaded guilty Monday to federal drug charges involving the distribution of large amounts of cocaine in a case investigated jointly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Christopher Hurley, 29, of New York, formerly of Belfast, Maine, and his brother Matthew, 26, of Belfast, appeared in U.S. District Court in Bangor, where they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in Waldo County.

Court records reveal that the brothers committed this crime between January 2005 and March 2009. The records also identify Carlos Zamora, an illegal alien living in New York, who allegedly supplied large amounts of cocaine that were distributed by Ralphy Dominguez, of Bronx, N.Y., to dealers in Waldo County, including Christopher and Matthew Hurley.

The cocaine was then re-distributed by street level dealers. At the time of their arrests in November 2010, the two men were no longer living in Belfast.

Other members of the conspiracy who have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced are Zamora, Dominguez, Richard Calligan, Jeffrey Emerson, Rodney Littlefield, Michael Dunn and Nathan Dodd.

The year-long investigation was conducted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Mid-Coast Task Force, with the assistance of ICE HSI, the Waldo County Sheriff's Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The guilty pleas were announced by Thomas E. Delahanty II, U.S. attorney for the District of Maine.