Local drug dealer gets 5-year suspended sentence

Local drug dealer Kenneth S. Gardipee received a five-year suspended sentence with the Department of Corrections and was ordered to pay nearly $2,500 in fines, in accordance with a plea deal, after pleading guilty to three counts of drug distribution charges.

Gardipee was arrested in August 2012 in a car that was later found to be lined with drugs in various hiding spots front to back — under the hood, in the doors, under the center console and in the trunk.

A total of 86 hydrocodone, clonazepam, methadone and oxycodone pills of various doses were found in the car. The total amount of cocaine...