STAFF REPORT

A federal judge has adopted a finding of a magistrate judge which says that Pittsfield police did nothing wrong when they arrested a suspected drug dealer three years ago.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr., in a recent decision, granted a defense motion for a summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by Ricky Wilcox, who was arrested in February 2005 and charged with aggravated drug trafficking.

Magistrate Justice Margaret J. Kravchuk had recommended the finding in a decision issued April 30.

Wilcox claimed in his lawsuit that police illegally searched his home, caused injury through improper use of handcuffs and excessive force and defamed his character in a story in the Bangor Daily News.

Wilcox had sued reserve Police Officer Jason Emery, Pittsfield Police Chief Steven Emery (no relation) and the Town of Pittsfield.