Man sentenced for role in meth trafficking conspiracy that operated in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Maine

BOSTON – A Maine man has been sentenced for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy that operated in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Northern California.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 44-year-old Jacob Parlin of Lebanon, Maine, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In November 2023, Parlin was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Parlin was indicted along with nine others in December 2021 for their roles in a drug trafficking organization led by co-defendant Harry Tam, a/k/a “Legendary H.” The investigation identified Parlin as one of Tam’s trusted business partners with whom he worked together to distribute methamphetamine in Maine. In their business arrangement, Tam would procure methamphetamine from California or elsewhere via mailed shipments to his business in Brookline. The methamphetamine would then be transferred to Parlin for distribution in his community in Maine.

Parlin was arrested early in the morning of March 31, 2021 in New Hampshire, as he drove home to Maine from the Boston-area after meeting with Tam. A plastic bag containing approximately 880 grams of 100% pure methamphetamine was found beneath the driver’s seat of Parlin’s car. More than three kilograms of methamphetamine, about a dozen firearms and approximately $95,000 in cash was seized over the course of the investigation.

Parlin is the ninth defendant to be convicted in the case. Tam pleaded guilty in July 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4, 2024.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini and Amanda Beck of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.