Bail increased to $50,000 for NY man arrested on drug trafficking charges in Augusta

AUGUSTA — Bail for a New York City man arrested on charges that he trafficked in cocaine and a mix of heroin and fentanyl was increased from $30,000 to $50,000 Friday after a state prosecutor noted the man has six prior felony drug convictions on his record in New York.

Corey Leak, 34, of Manhattan, was arrested Wednesday on four charges of aggravated drug trafficking and violating conditions of release. Augusta police said they acted on a search warrant targeting a River Street apartment where he was staying.

Leak’s bail initially was set by a bail commissioner at $30,000, but state prosecutor Tyler LeClair, an assistant district attorney, said at Leak’s initial court appearance Friday that probably was done before authorities knew fully of his extensive criminal record from out of state.

LeClair said Leak has six prior felony drug convictions in New York and has another drug case pending in New Hampshire. He sought to have Leak’s bail increased to $50,000, which Judge Mark Walker agreed to do.

Walker said Leak’s situation of being from another state and accused of trafficking drugs in Maine is, sadly, “not uncommon” and a bail amount of $50,000 was “in keeping with bail I’ve set in similar cases.”

Stephen Bourget, temporarily representing Leak as attorney of the day, said Leak’s family, having been told his bail was $30,000, was trying to raise the $30,000; but he said $50,000 “would be out of their league” and result in Leak remaining in jail.

According to a news release from the Augusta Police Department, police received a number of tips about suspected drug activities at 58 River St., Apartment 2. In the ongoing investigation, Augusta detectives, in collaboration with the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, were able to secure a warrant to search both the residence and its occupants.

An affidavit filed in court by Augusta police Detective Benjamin Murtiff said a cooperating person who provided police with information about known drug traffickers in the area identified Leak, who goes by the street name of “Blaze,” as someone who had been selling drugs on River Street in Augusta.

The cooperating person, working with police, bought $150 worth of cocaine base, also known as crack, and a heroin/fentanyl mixture from a woman at the residence, which police believe she acquired from Leak, who was also at the residence.

Leak was arrested while he apparently was trying to leave the apartment building. Police found $9,751 in cash on him, including the same $150 in bills allegedly used by the cooperating person to buy drugs earlier. During a strip search, police also found a large plastic ball with a white hard substance and a powdery tan substance hidden in his boxer briefs.

The affidavit states the white substance later tested positive for cocaine and weighed 11.88 grams, and the tan substance tested positive for heroin and fentanyl and weighed 12.72 grams.

The class A aggravated drug trafficking charges are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Police are seeking to seize the $9,751 through the state’s criminal forfeiture statutes.

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