BOSTON -- Former Sen. Max Cleland has suspended his chief of staff after the man allegedly crashed a John Edwards fundraiser on Martha's Vineyard, then broke into a nearby Coast Guard station.

Michael Duga Jr., 31, of Coral Springs, Fla., was released on $2,500 bail after pleading not guilty Monday in Edgartown District Court to charges including marijuana possession and breaking into the Menemsha Coast Guard Station.

Duga has an "extensive criminal history" in Florida, including carjacking and drug possession and dealing, according to a police report from the Chilmark police department on Martha's Vineyard.

Atlanta station WSBTV discovered court records form Duga's hometown of Coral Springs, Fla., and found Duga had seven run-ins with police in the past five years and multiple drug arrests including intent to sell the drug Alprozolam, also know as Xanax.

Most of the arrests took place during his employment with Cleland. The former senator said he was unaware of Duga's run-ins with police.

Cleland told WSBTV that Duga had been volunteering with the John Edwards presidential campaign Friday night. Cleland also said Edwards and Duga were riding in a car together that night and that Edwards and Duga phoned him from their car.

"I trusted him and he had a clean record, as far as I knew," Cleland said. "But now some things are coming out. But I want to reserve final judgment until all the facts are in."

Reached Wednesday by The Associated Press, Duga said, "I have the utmost respect for Sen. Cleland and will continue to do so throughout his life. He is an American hero to me." He declined further comment.

According to the police report, Duga was dropped off Friday at a fundraiser for Edwards at the Chilmark home of Alex MacDonald. Duga told Chilmark police officer Blaze Montelo, who was working a traffic detail, that he was working with Edwards' campaign committee. He showed a photo and card indicating he was Cleland's chief of staff. Duga worked a front table where people bought tickets for the fundraiser and accepted a gift for Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, Montelo said.

"We cannot comment any further as this is a security issue and pending investigation," Edwards' spokeswoman Colleen Murray said in a statement to The Associated Press.

On Saturday morning, police were dispatched to the Menemsha Coast Guard Station, where they said they found Duga, who the Coast Guard said entered the building without permission.

Police said they found marijuana in the SUV Duga was using; He is scheduled to appear in a Massachusetts court Sept. 9.