Dixfield’s town manager has been fired after he, three former police officers, a prosecutor, former selectman and others were charged in a wide-ranging marijuana conspiracy.
Dixfield selectmen voted unanimously Friday to fire 29-year-old James McLamb of Auburn, according to the Rumford Falls Times.
McLamb’s employment as town manager ends Nov. 16, during his probationary period. He was hired as town manager on a one-year contract in May, but has been on administrative leave since he was accused of involvement in the scheme to use medical grow houses to illegally sell $13 million of marijuana in and outside of Maine since 2016.
He was charged with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tampering with documents.
Court documents made public last month detailed a far-reaching scheme in which the head of the conspiracy, 41-year-old Lucas Sirois of Farmington, allegedly gave cops ownership interests in his company and brand new “company” cars in exchange for confidential information that he used to benefit his business. He also learned about the federal investigation into his illegal business dealings through the officers’ networks.
The accusations leveled against McLamb dated from his time as an Oxford County sheriff’s deputy. He allegedly tipped off two former Franklin County sheriff’s deputies, 33-year-old Bradley Scovil of Rangeley and 29-year-old Derrick Doucette of Jay, that they were under investigation for their involvement in the marijuana operation.
Scovil and Doucette convinced McLamb to run license plate numbers of vehicles that they believed to be following them, according to the complaint. He provided the pair with information that he learned, including that one of the plates appeared to belong to the Maine Department of Public Safety.
In exchange, they allegedly offered to set him up with a marijuana grow house.
Prosecutors said McLamb then destroyed electronic evidence of the wrongdoing to keep it from investigators, deleting text messages he had exchanged with Doucette and Scovil.
If convicted, McLamb faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge.
Others charged in the marijuana operation include: David Burgess, 53, a former Rangeley selectman; Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Alves, 36, of Farmington; former Wilton police Officer Kevin Lemay, 33, of Farmington; Alisa Sirois, 43, of Kingfield; Robert Sirois, 68, of Farmington; Ryan Nezol, 38, of Farmington; Kenneth Allen, 48, of Farmington; Randal Cousineau, 69, of Farmington; and Brandon Dagnese, 27, of Scarborough.
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