LEWISTON, Maine — A Lewiston man was arrested Tuesday on a felony drug charge after Maine Drug Enforcement Agency personnel and Lewiston police found 450 marijuana plants in the building in which he lives.
John Katula, 39, is charged with aggravated cultivation of marijuana, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, MDEA Commander Scott Pelletier said Wednesday in a news release.
Katula and his alleged growing operation came to the attention of state and city police on Tuesday afternoon, when Lewiston police were called about a disturbance in the former Club Rendezvous building at 16-18 Park St., Pelletier said.
When officers arrived, they found several men engaged in a physical altercation. While mediating the incident, officers suspected the presence of a large marijuana cultivation operation inside the four story building, Pelletier said.
When officers inquired about the marijuana, Pelletier said, Katula told them he was a licensed medical marijuana caregiver under the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program.
Katula’s caregiver registration card, however, had expired in June of 2013. MDEA agents from the Western District Task Force were called out to assist the Lewiston officers.
A subsequent search of the building turned up 450 mature, flowering marijuana plants, along with an extensive lighting and ventilation system, Pelletier said.
The plants were being grown on three of the four floors and there were serious electrical issues involving the wiring of the growing equipment, the MDEA commander said.
Lewiston’s code enforcement officer also was called to the scene and since has been in contact with the building’s owner, Pelletier said.
Katula, the only person living in the building, was taken to Androscoggin County Jail, where bail was set at $5,000. The estimated street value of the marijuana is in excess of $100,000, Pelletier said.
Pelletier said Wednesday that drug agents are seeing an increase in people who are registered medical marijuana caregivers taking advantage of the demand for marijuana.
In many cases, he said, these growers are cultivating and selling much larger amounts of marijuana than they are authorized.
A caregiver is limited to growing for five patients and each patient can have only six marijuana plants.
Pelletier said anyone with information concerning this investigation or other suspected drug trafficking should contract the MDEA or call the agency’s drug tip hotline at 800-452-6457.