Attorney General Joseph A. Foster announced today that James Wadleigh, 53, was sentenced yesterday by the Merrimack County Superior Court to eighteen (18) years to life in the New Hampshire State Prison for charges arising from his role as a drug enterprise leader linked to numerous sales of cocaine and heroin in the Pembroke. Earlier, Mr. Wadleigh pleaded guilty to being a drug enterprise leader, to numerous cocaine sales, and to possession of cocaine and heroin with the intent to distribute. Mr. Wadleigh also received suspended sentences that the State could seek to impose if Mr. Wadleigh fails to remain of good behavior upon his release from incarceration.

Attorney General Foster said, "This office and its law enforcement partners will utilize all available resources to investigate and prosecute individuals like James Wadleigh who have made their business of choice selling dangerous drugs in our communities. If convicted, we will seek harsh, but just, sentences in order to punish these dangerous offenders and protect our communities."

Mr. Wadleigh was arrested on March 27, 2014, after an investigation conducted by the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force, with assistance from the Pembroke Police Department, the Allenstown Police Department, the Merrimack County Sheriff's Department and the State Police Narcotics and Investigations Unit (NIU). The investigation revealed that Mr. Wadleigh was a significant distributor of cocaine and heroin; and that he conspired with and supervised at least two other individuals in furtherance of his unlawful drug enterprise. Mr. Wadleigh was previously convicted of fourteen separate drug-related offenses in New Hampshire.