Ex-Boston firefighter sentenced to 8 months for role in growing marijuana found in Maine home

Ex-Boston firefighter sentenced for growing pot

PORTLAND, Maine — A former Boston firefighter has been sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting that he grew more than 100 pot plants that were seized from his Maine home in a federal drug raid.

U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby says 32-year-old Sean Berte also will face three years of supervised release once he’s out of prison.

Federal drug agents raided Berte’s Bridgton, Maine, home in May 2009 and seized 131 marijuana plants and cultivating equipment, worth an estimated $700,000.

Berte pleaded guilty in February to cultivating the plants. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Perry says Berte also admitted smoking about 2 ounces of marijuana a week during the eight years he was employed as a firefighter, but there’s no evidence that he did so while on duty.

Berte resigned from the department following the raid.