EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — Police seized six to eight pounds of marijuana and arrested four men this weekend in capping a nearly three-month investigation into Katahdin region drug sales, Police Chief Cameron McDunnah said Monday.
George Sprague, 30, and Ethan Hitchcock, 22, both of Medway and Kevin Day, 49, and Chris Willigar, 29, both of East Millinocket were charged late Friday with cultivation of marijuana. They posted bail and are due in Millinocket District Court on Dec. 5, McDunnah said.
The marijuana has an estimated street value of about $15,000, the chief said.
“It is an excellent job for everybody involved,” McDunnah said Monday. “It was good teamwork, good information — a good multijurisdictional investigation.”
Police allege that Day, the target of the investigation, ran the marijuana operation. Police used confidential informants and surveillance to build a case charging that Day and the other suspects grew the plants on banks of the East Branch of the Penobscot River in Soldiertown Township and in fields nearby before taking it to Day’s home on Maple Street for processing and eventual sale, McDunnah said.
Police believe that the suspects used two-way radios to conduct countersurveillance as part of their operation, McDunnah said.
McDunnah and Officers Jason Ingalls, Steve Perreault and Richard York found a set of radios, 2½ pounds of processed marijuana, scales, clippers, work gloves and other drug paraphernalia when they searched Day’s home on Friday night, McDunnah said.
Day, McDunnah said, consented to the search after Maine Warden Service Game Wardens James Davis and Scott Martin took Day and Hitchcock into custody in a field off Route 11 in Soldiertown Township at about 7 p.m. Friday.
Game Wardens Andrew Glidden and Seth Powers found about a dozen large black trash bags, several duffel bags and a large plastic tote all carrying four to six pounds of unprocessed marijuana when they stopped Sprague and Willigar in Sprague’s Toyota pickup truck on the Grindstone Road near the rest area shortly after Day and Hitchcock were taken into custody, McDunnah said.
The game wardens found a dozen marijuana plants in Soldiertown Township on Saturday, McDunnah said.
McDunnah, Davis, Glidden, Perreault, York and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy Patty McLaughlin searched the house. McLaughlin also assisted the game wardens when they stopped the pickup truck on Route 11, McDunnah said.
More charges are likely when Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy reviews the case within the next several days as part of the ongoing investigation, McDunnah said.
“I am very, very pleased with how everybody worked together to make this happen,” McDunnah said. “It’s a good take off the streets.”
4-5 plants…
Three month investigation?…….Isn’t that about how long it takes to grow it?
$15,000?…….How much did the three month investigation cost?
The investigation, plus all the other money to prosecute this heinous crime *cough*. Reefer Madness v. 2012.
Great point. What a waste of resources! I’d rather the cops spend more time monitoring pharmacies and busting drunk drivers. The people that are robbing pharmacies are not pot heads. They are a completely different species than those addicted to pain killers, heroin,
bath salts …… Cigarettes, booze and medical cannibus are all legal in the state of Maine but recreatonal pot is not? These boys are probably going to jail for something that will likely be legalized in the next 10 years. I know they broke the law but the law is broken to begin with! Don’t waste our resources – just legalize it!
There are plenty of people that smoke pot and pop pills. I’m willing to bet if we asked the people who recently robbed the pharmacies if they smoked pot, they would answer yes.
Sure, because they are self-medicating with whatever they can get their hands on. I bet they also smoke cigs, drink and take any over/under the counter meds to get a high as well. Some probably huff friggin shoe polish. Very sad. Apples and oranges.
Yeah, they’d probably say they’ve ate cheese burgers too. I wonder if it might have been the cheese burgers that drove them to drugs and robbery?
I suspect there are more people who drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and pop pills. I’m willing to be if we asked the people who recently robbed the pharmacies if they drank alcohol, coffee, energy and smoked cigarettes, they would say yes. I bet most of them would say that they smoked cigarettes, alcohol, coffee and energy drinks long before they ever tried pot (if they did).
Police, deputies and wardens all did a great job!!
Yeah, nothing like spending our tax dollars to destroy the lives of non violent “criminals”.
yeah because we all know that drugs do not induce violence or theft.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/10/01/news/bangor/second-suspect-sought-in-bangor-triple-homicide/
True. Drug prohibition does though.
The majority of drug related to violence is due to prohibition. There’s a reason we don’t see people from different beer companies gunning each other down in the streets anymore. It’s none of governments business what we choose to put into our own bodies. Prohibition has caused a problem far worse than the drugs themselves.
Here here!
The majic word there Captain is ” criminals “. I believe that would be defined as someone who intentionally breaks the law ! I ,for one ,am proud of these law enforcement professionals for doing their job !
Sure they broke the law, but a real crime, in my eyes, must have an actual victim. Maybe you enjoy a drink now and then. There was a time when you would be arrested for doing so. Is that right? Do you drive more than 55 on the highway? If so, then that makes you a “criminal” as well.
Would you rather they sit around and do nothing and get paid? I’m willing to bet that normal neighborhood patrols continued during this investigation.
“non violent” criminials? So the likes of Bernie Maddoff should go free? God forbid one of these “non violent” criminals gets behind the wheel of a car and kills one of your family members. Then what?
Bernie Maddoff was a thief, which should remain illegal, as is driving intoxicated. As far as I know, this case involved none of those.
“East Millinocket police seize 6-8 pounds of marijuana”My guess is they don’t have a scale that works,or some one is guessing again.Maybe it’s just the writer grabing a headline?
Too bad to see lives, potential and pot wasted like this.
Small potatoes! LEGALIZE!
What a waste of resources and manpower! When will our law makers grow up?
Why dont you law inforcement people go after the acid, Oxy ect instead of the Mariwana which should be legalized. The hard stuff savy. When is it going to register?
Great job to Chief McDunnah and all the law enforcement agencies that were involved in this bust. I hope it is just the tip of the iceberg and the pill pushers will be next in line for getting nailed.
Says so much about our new chief. He cares about cleaning up the drugs in the area. Took him two and a half months to score a decent sized bust. Wonder what the last chief was doing with his time when he was chief? Drugs weren’t a priority for him. Then again nothing seemed to be a priority when he was chief except maybe seat belt violations and speeding tickets to out of staters. It has been nice to hear the police arresting people for OUI and bail conditions. Again great job Chief McDunnah!
Pot isn’t the problem. People have been utilizing it for centuries – it is a natual herb. It’s the highly addictive, pharmacutical crap (that doctors prescribe so freely) you have to worry about and hardcore drugs like heroin, coke and bath salts. Is it a gateway drug? Perhaps for some but not for all. I know lots of pot smokers who have never progressed onto other substances. I worry a lot more about the health of cigarette smokers with all those added toxins. Alcohol has detroyed so many more lives than pot. But both are not only legal, the govenment makes a fortune on taxes. Very hypocritical.
coke is all natural too, has been utilized for centuries and comes from the leaves of a plant what’s your problem with that compared to pot? Same thing when you get down to it, just a different high. At this point pot is illegal to grow and distribute for recreational purposes and the police did their job enforcing the law.
I’m not an expert but I believe cocaine requires more sophisticated processing while one can grow pot in a backyard or on a porch, dry it out and you’re good to go. You are correct in that the police were doing their jobs because recreationally it is still illegal. The point I was trying to emphasize is that it shouldn’t be illegal. Time to focus on serious crimes! Don’t waste what limited resources we have.
Grow the coca plant, dry and grind to a powder from what I understand. I was making a point you listed coke as if it is a different class of drug then pot. It’s not, it is the same. Why should one be legal and the other not. Coca leaves have been used for centuries, chewed whole even before they started grinding it, to get the same effect. It is all natural. Why is it worse then pot? Heroin is synthetic and the first ‘designer’ drug. Combined morphine and opium (poppy plant). Just curious why some drugs should be legal and others not according to you and your logic.
It is all about the impact and effect the drug has on a person’s life. Tobacco and alcohol are considered drugs but they are widely accepted. Prohibition only serves to drive it underground and that’s when people with guns hurt others. The people we see in the ER or robbing pharmacies and homes are not pot smokers. They are addicted to hard drugs and will rob, steal and kill to get what they need. Pot smokers are content to stay at home, watch South Park and eat ice cream. Hope this helps. Thanks for the tutoral on cocaine production. Must have missed this on PBS.
Rather poor tutorial, honestly. PBS is known for decent quality work. Doubt he/she saw it there, consider his/her horrible lack of factual information.
Marijuana and Cocaine are NOT the same class of drug. Cocaine is a Stimulant and Marijuana is a Psychoactive. Not the same. At all. Also, legally, the two drugs are treated with very different regard. Also, Marijuana is consumed as is with no need to process or treat it. Coca leaves go through chemical processing to become Cocaine. Marijuana is also not the leaves of the Cannabis plant (leaves most often are considered rather useless), unlike Cocaine, which is made solely from the leaves. Four (of many) simple examples to disprove the flawed nature of your assertion of comparable “class”.
“From what I understand….” Oh, that made me giggle.
Now, Coca leaves are completely unlike Cocaine. When you process a plant, you change its composition. Coca leaves have been used for centuries, you are correct. Native people use to chew it to help them through the roughness of their day. However, even though Cocaine is made from these same leaves, it is hardly the same. It is processed (often with hazardous chemicals like Diesel or Jet Fuel) and changed, concentrated on a chemical level. Its not just ground up Coca leaves. Coke is not Green, at least, not in the movies. It is turned from a natural plant into a semi-synthetic drug. The plant in its natural state is not really “worse” than Pot. Just different. Your argument in this matter is flawed. You are comparing one plant (Pot) which is used as is, with another that is turned into a concentrated, unnatural form and suggesting that “Hey, they are both plants, so whats the difference?” The difference is clear. One is consumed in its natural state, the other is not (for all intents and purposes, presently).
Heroin is not really synthetic. Its a semi-synthetic Opiate, made from Opium. Its not a mix of Morphine and Opium, it is Morphine. Opium comes from Poppy’s, yes, but not all Poppy’s, only the species P. Somniferum. Morphine is the predominant alkaloid in Opium and was the first plant alkaloid to ever be isolated (and thus opened the door for modern medicine). Bayer (the Asprin people) actually created Heroin as a cure for Morphine addiction in a time long past (Civil War Era). It is not a designer drug, at all. It was not created to subvert existing drug laws, as there were basically no drug laws at the time it was discovered.
Just figured Id drop by and offer you some actual Logic.
Also, do try harder to pretend to be rather smart, next time. Never know how smart the guy watching might be. Id really hate to have to go through all this effort, again.
Now feel free to carry on with your life and not reply to this.
Coke is NOT all natural….it has to go through a lot of processes to become cocaine. You can’t just pick cocaine off a plant and snort it!
Coke must be processed. There is horrific physical withdrawal from coke. There is no physical withdrawal from pot.
and I know some who have progressed to harder substances. Using cigarette and alchohol to justify your argument is a little hypocritcal in itself.
Its good to know some family businesses were thriving in this economy. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving group of men. Karma.
Wow…what a joke! There’s not much for them to do up there except wait outside the 2 bars in town and hope for a DWI arrest, so this is a huge case for them.
6-8 pounds… sounds like they may have started out with 8 pounds but by the time the evidence made it to the property room it was down to 6.
It’ll be down to less than 4-5 at most by the time the 4-6 wet unprocessed dries. Have fun with all that, prosecution. Evidence isn’t here? Out the case goes!
Great job officers…
Well there you go Almy, finally something that you can give a maximum sentence to…Get those scary pot smokers off the streets so the MURDERERS wont be so scared.
Jeff you forgot the child molesters they spank on the hand too.
So true, cannot worry them too much either.
6 to 8 pounds? 4 guys? That is enough smoke to last 4 guys for a year. Some big bust!
Bet the wardens didn’t find all the greenery out growing along the river. Time to soldier on up to Soldiertown.
I have to agree with you on not finding all the greenery!!!!! need to look a little harder.
Informants? Must have been some pill popping, bath salt using, needle pushing, welfare abusing low lifes that were trying to save themselves from some jail time.
“It’s a good take off the streets.”
Yep. 4-6 pounds of wet (likely premature) and 2 1/2 dry of dope off the street. Good take boys, good take. Wars over. Now, pat yourself on the back and drink that beer, coppers.
“carrying four to six pounds of unprocessed marijuana”
So, it was wet. It looses probably at least 50% of its weight drying. Add that to the 2.5 they found otherwise, and your looking at maybe 5 pounds total, at most.
It took 3 months for multiple officers and CI’s to get these dirty dopers. They set up surveillance and all kinds of other things. How much money you think that took? All for what? Not like they were going to poison all the local youth or make mega tax free dollars on this bumper crop.
This stopped making sense to rational people long ago. Too bad rationality is in the minority. School, religion and society doesn’t teach us to be rational, just to follow orders.
What’s so hard to understand folks? As long as the law is on the books it will be against the law to cultivate and possess large quantities of the stuff. If all of you you stoners out there want to decriminalize it then put down your bowls of ice cream, turn off South Park and get to work instead of whining about your local police actually doing their jobs.
Must not of gotten it all……because there was supposed to be more…. don’t think they got all the plants….. should look at the location again…….. it has been used for many, many, many, many years….. so I heard…….