Zane Willhide, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Maine 2019

Defendant Faces Life in Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking

BANGOR, Maine – In a shocking turn of events, Zane Willhide, a 24-year-old Aroostook County man, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.

According to court records, between approximately July 2018 and May 2019, members of the conspiracy obtained methamphetamine in western and southern states from sources in Mexico. Willhide and his co-conspirators then distributed the drugs in Aroostook County and other parts of central and northern Maine.

Willhide faces between 10 years and life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million. He also faces between five years and a lifetime of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigated this case with the assistance of multiple state and local law enforcement agencies.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Willhide’s guilty plea marks a significant victory for law enforcement agencies in their efforts to combat methamphetamine trafficking in Maine. The case serves as a reminder of the devastating impact of methamphetamine on communities and the importance of continued collaboration between law enforcement agencies to disrupt and dismantle these criminal networks.

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