Area man pleads guilty to drug, smuggling charges

    BANGOR — United States attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Robert Rossignol, 60, of Van Buren, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor, to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and failure to report his international transportation of more than $10,000 in U.S. currency into the United States.
    According to court records, between Jan. 1, 2011 and June 28, 2012, Rossignol and others obtained kilogram quantities of cocaine in Texas and distributed it in New Brunswick, Canada. During the conspiracy, Rossignol received large sums of U.S. currency from a drug dealer in New Brunswick, Canada and smuggled it into the United States without reporting it on a Report of International Transportation of Currency, as required by federal law. Once in the United States, Rossignol gave the currency to a runner working for the drug dealer, who took the money to Texas and delivered it to the drug dealer. In Texas, the drug dealer used the currency to purchase cocaine from his source of supply. The cocaine was concealed in the runner’s vehicle and transported to northern Maine where it was delivered to Rossignol. Rossignol smuggled the cocaine across the border into New Brunswick and delivered it to the drug dealer. Rossignol did this repeatedly during the course of the conspiracy and was paid by the drug dealer for each round trip.
    On June 27, 2012, Rossignol smuggled nearly $300,000 in U.S. currency in a box into the United States from Canada, through the Hamlin, Maine Port of Entry. Agents seized the box after watching Rossignol deliver it to the runner. Rossignol admitted that he had more than $10,000 in the box, failed to report it to the border authorities when he entered the United States, and knew what he had done was wrong.
    On the drug conspiracy charge, Rossignol faces a minimum of ten years and up to life imprisonment and a $10,000,000 fine. On the currency smuggling charge, Rossignol faces up to five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the United States Probation Office.
    The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.