Lewiston man in jail after another drug arrest

PORTLAND – A Lewiston man charged with drug trafficking must remain behind bars after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that he posed a danger to the community.

Matthew Mennealy submitted photo

Matthew Mennealy, 43, appeared in U.S. District Court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and accompanied by U.S. Marshals.

Through his attorney, Edward MacColl, Mennealy asked U.S. District Judge Karen Frink Wolf to allow him to be transferred from prison to St. Francis Recovery Center in Auburn, where he will undergo inpatient drug rehabilitation treatment, once he has been evaluated and a bed becomes available for him.

Mennealy was on probation for three years after serving a seven-year prison sentence stemming from a 2016 conviction on federal drug and weapons charges.

Since then, he was arrested in Lewiston in October 2023 and charged with a drug offense, for which he was found guilty in state court and sentenced to four years' probation.

On Aug. 11, a Lewiston police officer attempted to pull over a motorist around 12:20 a.m. when Mennealy accelerated, turned onto several city streets and then pulled into the curb, court documents show.

As Mennealy exited the vehicle, the officer saw several items fall to the ground.

The officer noticed that the passenger window was rolled down and suspected that Mennealy had thrown something out the window after the officer turned on the blue lights and siren.

Officers traced the route Mennealy took and found a black sock with a green heel and toe. Inside were approximately 18 grams of cocaine and 17 grams of psilocybin mushrooms. According to court documents, police also found a black suitcase in the vehicle containing two grams of crack cocaine.

Mennealy was charged with drug trafficking, unlawful possession of crack cocaine, unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and two other misdemeanors.

His probation officer stated in court documents that Mennealy violated his probation by admitting to using cocaine that day and failing to submit to a drug test in June.

MacColl said Tuesday that his client had previously had “very good experiences” in drug treatment programs at St. Francis and a county jail in New Hampshire.

“He has had a serious drug problem since he was 20,” MacColl said.

He said he “tried to give him an abstinence plan.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Green asked the judge to deny Mennealy's request for release.

Wolf said Mennealy failed to meet a “high” burden of proof that he would not pose a danger to the community if released from prison.

She said his behavior on August 11 was “extremely dangerous” as he allegedly evaded police and threw illegal drugs into the street.

“I know you know what you have to do,” she told Mennealy. “I don't want you to give up.”

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