By The Associated Press
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Massachusetts man who said he couldn’t get a fair trial from an all-White jury in Maine has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on drug charges.
Myron Crosby Jr., of Springfield, said he didn’t think he could get a fair trial because he’s African-American and the jury is White.
Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building and Courthouse, Bangor, Maine (Courtesy Photo)
The 56-year-old was convicted of conspiring to bring 60,000 to 80,000 bags of heroin into Maine. He told a judge last year he’d like to be tried by a jury of his peers in Massachusetts or Connecticut, where the drug sales occurred.
The judge told Crosby that no one has ever interpreted “being tried by a jury of one’s peers as being tried by a jury of one’s race.”
The Bangor Daily News reports Crosby was held without bail for nearly two years.
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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangordailynews.com