June 21--Nearly four years after fire burned several families out of their Auburn homes, the man who started the blaze was sentenced to federal prison for nearly 30 years.
Trezjuan Thompson, 29, formerly of Lewiston, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Thursday to 327 months on drug conspiracy and arson charges.
Prosecutors said from about November 2008 until November 2009, Thompson was part of a drug trafficking organization that sold cocaine and crack cocaine throughout the Twin Cities.
Some of his dealing was done from jail or prison, prosecutors said.
On the night of Nov. 23, 2009, Thompson set fire to the rental apartment of a woman he had previously lived with, according to court testimony. At the time of the fire, Thompson was forbidden from contacting the woman, due to a protection order.
The blaze at 48 Academy St. spread quickly. Investigators said Thompson started the fire by pouring gasoline throughout the empty apartment before igniting it. The apartment was destroyed, and adjacent apartments were damaged.
Thompson was jailed following the fire, but prosecutors said he conspired from November 2009 until February 2010 to distribute crack cocaine in the Lewiston-Auburn area, using the phone systems at the Androscoggin County Jail and the Maine State Prison.
As a result of prior state convictions for drug trafficking and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, Thompson was subject to an enhanced sentence as a career offender.
Since 2006, Thompson has been convicted of one charge of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, for which he was fined $400 and spent 48 hours in jail; one charge of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, fined $400; carrying a concealed weapon, fined $100; disorderly conduct and fighting; and domestic violence criminal threatening, sentenced to 45 days in jail. While in jail, Thompson was charged with two felony counts of trafficking in prison contraband, which were added to his disorderly conduct conviction.
Also since 2006, Thompson was convicted six times of violating conditions of his release, spending a total of 14 days in the county jail on two of those convictions.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Maine State Fire Marshal's Office and the Lewiston and Auburn Police Departments.
Copyright 2013 - Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine
