A drug trafficking investigation involving the South Portland Police Department and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) led to the arrest of a South Portland man with a lengthy criminal history in the state who obtained a $20,000 PPP loan from the federal government,
According to police, South Portland Police officers working alongside the MDEA arrested 42-year-old Lynel Moultrie of South Portland at around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Moultrie faces four counts of trafficking in scheduled drugs, and is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $20,000 bail.
Officers searched two residences located at 857 Broadway #2 and 112 Colin Kelly Rd. in South Portland, and recovered evidence related to the investigation, police said.
“This individual was selling drugs in our community, and he has been arrested thanks to this coordinated effort,” South Portland Police Chief Dan Ahern said Wednesday.
Ahern thanked MDEA and South Portland officers for “the dangerous work they do every day protecting our community and getting drugs and suspects who sell them off the streets.”
According to criminal records obtained by the Maine Wire, Moultrie has an extensive criminal record in Maine dating back over 20 years. Despite this lengthy criminal record, and despite being on probation at the time, Moultrie was able to secure a $20,833 loan under the federal COVID-19 Payroll Protection Program (PPP).
As indicated in the record of the PPP loan, the Calif.-based Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC provided the loan to Moultrie for a single-employee “delivery” business, meaning Moultrie directly received the $20k.
In April 2003, Moultrie was arrested by Brunswick Police and charged with theft (Class D) — a charge dismissed by prosecutors after he was arrested in Portland later that year and found guilty of two counts of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs (Class D).
For the two drug possession counts, Moultrie was sentenced to a total of 30 days in jail.
In August 2006, Moultrie was found again found guilty of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs (Class D), receiving a jail sentence of 72 hours, a fine of $300, and ordered to pay $110 in restitution.
Moultrie was arrested by the MDEA in December 2006 and charged with unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs (Class B), and violating condition of release (Class E)
Then, in May 2007, Moultrie was once again found guilty of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs (Class D), that time receiving a sentence of 90 days in jail and a $400 fine.
For the felony drug trafficking charges from December 2006, Moultrie was given a four-year sentence with all but six months suspended, and placed on probation for two years.
Criminal history records show Moultrie violated his probation in June 2009, which was then extended for two years, and violated his probation again in October 2010, resulting in another two-year extension of his probation.
By November 2010 Moultrie was once again found guilty of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs in Cumberland County, receiving a 60-day sentence and $400 fine.
Two years later, in November 2012, Moultrie was charged in South Portland with operating a motor vehicle after a habitual offender revocation — a felony, which was later dismissed by prosecutors.
In April 2017, Moultrie was arrested in Portland on a misdemeanor assault charge, for which he was found guilty and fined $300.
Moultrie received another felony drug trafficking charge in May 2020, alongside trafficking in prison contraband (Class C), refusing to submit to arrest (Class D), and falsifying physical evidence (Class D).
For those charges he received an 18-month sentence with all but 48 hours suspended, and was put on probation for two years.
Just over three years since receiving the more than $20,000 taxpayer-funded check from the federal government, Moultrie is facing four counts for trafficking in scheduled drugs.
