S. Berwick man gets three years for trafficking fentanyl

Stephen Kissh (Police mugshot)

PORTLAND, Maine - A South Berwick man was sentenced to three years in prison for possession of fentanyl and cocaine with intent to distribute, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine announced on Monday.

Stephen Kissh, 54, will also spend three years on supervised release following his release. He pleaded guilty in January.

According to court records, on Jan. 2, 2019, Kissh was arrested at his residence, a camper in South Berwick, after South Berwick police officers responded to the residence for a welfare check on another person believed to be under the influence of drugs.

Officers were familiar with Kissh, and were aware that he was on bail for Maine drug trafficking charges. Upon arriving at the camper, officers discovered Kissh and several other individuals inside, one of whom appeared to be under the influence of drugs but did not require medical attention.

Officers searched Kissh and found him to be in possession of four plastic bags containing fentanyl and cocaine. The officers searched Kissh's camper and recovered a safe that contained multiple plastic bags of fentanyl and cocaine.

The South Berwick Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case as part of the Department of Justice's Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge, a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids.