A security camera placed in a microwave by federal probation officials was a key piece of evidence leading to the dismissal of charges against a Lewiston man who had been charged with trafficking in more than $100,000 worth of cocaine.

Steven Braggs, 37, had been facing five years in prison on the federal charge of aggravated drug trafficking after police searched his hotel room and his wife’s Wellman Street home in November 2024.

But the case against him was terminated in June after Braggs’ lawyer convinced a U.S. District Court prosecutor that investigators had made a slew of errors in their attempts to bring Braggs to prosecution.

The case outlined by Portland attorney Heather Gonzales details a variety of investigative missteps, including failing to secure a search warrant, disabling security cameras and then fumbling in investigators’ attempts to explain their actions.

Gonzales also questioned the lack of footage from body-worn police cameras and other components of the case against Braggs.

That case began the morning of Nov. 26 when federal probation officers went to his room at the SureStay motel off state Route 196/Lisbon Street. Believing Braggs had violated terms of his probation, they searched the room and soon reported that they had confiscated 130 grams of cocaine.

According to investigators, Braggs then confessed that he kept additional drugs at the home of his wife on Wellman Street in Lewiston. Braggs later denied making this statement and the fact that there was no record of it would later cast doubt on the court case against him.

An ankle monitor Braggs wore as part of a previous sentence for a 2015 weapons case in Massachusetts also showed that he had not been to the Wellman Street home, according to court records. With that fact in mind, Gonzales questioned why Braggs would tell police he had moved drugs to his wife’s house if he had not been there at all.

Braggs was arrested after the search of his motel room and probation officials then went to the home of his wife on Wellman Street. Soon after, they reported they had seized at least a kilogram of cocaine from a safe and oxycodone pills in a drawer, according to court records.

But it was the behavior of the officers inside the Wellman Street home that would eventually cause their case against Braggs to disintegrate.

According to Gonzales’ report, the federal officials entered the home even though Braggs’ wife was not there and they had no warrant to search it.

According to court notes, a Lewiston police officer who arrived to assist at the scene appeared to note the fact that the search was questionable. When told that Braggs’ wife was not home at the time of the search, the police officer questioned the validity of the operation at once.

“So how did we end up here?” the officer is reported to have said.

Soon after, according to court reports, a probation official noticed a security camera inside the house and disabled it before continuing to search the residence.

“Upon entry into a bedroom minutes after entering the residence, Mr. Bragg’s supervising (probation) officer noticed a security camera and disabled it,” Gonzales wrote in her motion to suppress evidence in the case against Braggs. “According to his supervising officer, in said bedroom she located a safe which was locked. According to his supervising officer, she used a key seized at the hotel to gain access to the safe, whereupon suspected cocaine was located. No preliminary testing was conducted on the substance. According to his supervising officer, after discovering the suspected contraband, she contacted the Lewiston Police Department, who directed her and the other probation officers to stop the search and wait for their arrival.”

When Lewiston police heard about the search, they advised probation officials to obtain a warrant, according to a department spokesman. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency later applied for a warrant, according to court records, but only after the Wellman Street home had already been searched by probation officials.

In all, investigators said they had discovered nearly two kilos of cocaine, trafficking materials and over $25,000 in suspected proceeds during their searches.

In her motion, Gonzales excoriated federal officials for their behavior during the search and for several missteps that followed — including a stunning lack of reports and police recordings generated during the case.

“There is one evidence log documenting the seizure at Wellman Street,” Gonzales wrote. “There is no evidence log for the seizure in the hotel room. There are no chain of custody records but for a report created by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration when it obtained control of the drugs three months later.

“There are no recordings from body worn cameras or motor vehicle recording equipment from any Lewiston police officer involved in the events of November 26, 2024,” Gonzales wrote, “contrary to relevant Lewiston Police Department’s standard operating procedures. Home surveillance cameras located at Wellman Street, where Mr. Braggs had not been present since November 6, 2024, and where two searches occurred on November 26th, were disabled by probation officers and law enforcement officers upon their discovery. In fact, officers at the residence apparently were so concerned their actions would be recorded, that they inexplicably placed one of the disabled surveillance cameras into a microwave for the homeowner to find upon her return.”

A photo of the homeowner’s Ring camera was entered into evidence, along with several other items that included at least a dozen audio recordings, evidence logs and correspondence with Autumn Murtaugh, Braggs’ probation officer.

In the end, Gonzales asked the court the same question uttered by that one Lewiston police officer who had questioned the search from the beginning.

“How did four U.S. probation officers and, eventually, six local law enforcement officers enter Wellman Street with no one home, without a warrant and without consent?” she wrote in her motion. “… The answer to that question is: unreasonably.”

The indictment against Braggs was officially terminated on June 18. A short time later, Braggs agreed to a deal that released him from jail and to probation. He was also allowed to return to Massachusetts with his wife, where he remains on probation, according to court records.

Since the case against Braggs was dropped outright, it remained unclear whether there would be an investigation into the allegations made against federal officials in Gonzales’ arguments.

Probation officials could not be reached for comment late Tuesday afternoon. Gonzales declined to comment further on the case.

A Lewiston police spokesman said that since the department was only involved in the case in a limited supporting role, they would not offer comment on the matter.