Massachusetts Man Convicted of Failure to Pay Child Support and Drug Charge

Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Jay
Dandreo, 52, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was convicted yesterday after a two-day jury trial in U.S.
District Court in Portland of willfully failing to pay child support and possession with the intent
to manufacture or distribute marijuana.

According to evidence introduced at trial, in May 2004, the Maine Department of Health
& Human Services (MDHHS) ordered Dandreo to pay for the support of his four minor children.
Between May 2004 and November 2013, Dandreo knowingly and intentionally failed to make
any child support payments, resulting in an unpaid obligation of about $70,000. In August 2012,
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) investigators searched property located in Limerick,
Maine owned by Dandreo’s father and seized marijuana plants growing at several locations on
the property, as well as drug distribution paraphernalia and several firearms.

Dandreo faces up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the child support charge
and up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the drug charge. He will be sentenced after
completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,
Office of Inspector General; MDHHS, Office of Family Independence, Division of Support
Enforcement & Recovery; and MDEA.