PORTLAND, Maine — A Bangor man was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court to more than 18 years in federal prison for his role in a drug distribution ring, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Mario Lee, 42, formerly of the Bronx, pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, a press release issued Friday said.





By pleading guilty, Lee admitted that between August 2013 and September 2015, Lee conspired with others to distribute heroin in the Bangor area and elsewhere, according to the prosecution’s version of events. Lee supplied heroin to dealers in the Bangor area and surrounding communities.

Co-conspirators introduced customers to Lee, drove him to heroin transactions and allowed him to use their residences to distribute heroin. Lee paid them with heroin, the press release said.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Lee pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge and four drug possession charges were dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Lee to 18 years and two months in prison to be followed by eight years of supervised release. Under the prevailing federal sentencing guidelines, Lee faced between 10 and 20 years in prison.

Lee faced enhanced penalties as a result of a prior drug trafficking conviction in New York, according to federal prosecutors.

He was arrested Sept. 3, 2015, and had been held without bail since then.

The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.