By David Harry
Staff Writer

During his adult life in Maine, Sidney Tyler lived what court records indicate to be an itinerant life in Portland, South Portland and Biddeford.
His future home address will be more established: Last week he was sentenced to a 10-year federal prison term after pleading guilty to possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute.
Tyler, who turns 20 next month, was sentenced Feb. 1 in U.S. Federal Court in Portland by Judge D. Brock Hornby. Tyler also must serve eight years of supervised probation when his prison term expires.
Court records related to the federal case list Tyler’s current address as Brooklyn, N.Y.
Additional court files paint the picture of a young man who lived throughout southern Maine and had numerous brushes with the law.
When police arrested Tyler for an outstanding warrant on May 27, 2009, at the McDonald’s restaurant on Route 1 in Scarborough, they discovered he was carrying more than 5 grams of crack cocaine, according to court records, U.S. Assistant Attorney David B. Joyce and Scarborough Police Sgt. Rick Rouse.
Almost two years before that, South Portland police looking for Tyler because he failed to appear in court on a driving  charge found him in an apartment on Broadway, according to court records.
The police also found crack cocaine and more than $1,000 in cash, according to court records. Tyler said the money came from his girlfriend’s tax refund but claimed ownership of the cocaine, court records said.
When filling out documents for his bail, he also listed a Biddeford address where he could be reached.
In July 2008, Tyler was convicted in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland for possession of crack cocaine and trafficking the drug. In November 2008, he was sentenced to a three-year prison term with all but six months suspended and an additional two years of probation for the crimes, according to court records.
By January 2009, Tyler was out of prison and living on Sherman Street in Portland. Documents filled out by Tyler indicate his mother paid $400 rent and his cell phone bill while he earned about $55 a week working at a fast food restaurant.
Trouble quickly followed Tyler to Portland. On Jan. 3, 2009, he was cited for possession of alcohol – a violation of his probation – and given a written warning by probation officials, according to Maine Department of Corrections Probation Officer Ryan Labreque.
On Feb. 17, 2009, probations officers gave him a verbal warning after drug tests showed marijuana and cocaine in his urine. On March 5, 2009, he failed another drug test, according to Labreque.
In a May 2009 request to have Tyler returned to prison, Labreque said Tyler denied using drugs. While also evaluating Tyler as “very high risk” for his “attitude and orientation” when considering the possibility of continued probation violations, Labreque continued to press for Tyler’s arrest.
Tyler did not attend court-ordered drug counseling sessions and refused to allow Labreque and another probation officer into his apartment in Portland in when the two visited in May 2009, according to court records.
When arrested last May, Tyler also was being investigated by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Joyce said.
Joyce said police found crack cocaine ready for sale in “multiple plastic baggies” when Tyler was searched.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219