Police seized 9 grams of heroin and arrested four Hancock County residents — including two on probation for selling heroin — in Holden on Thursday night, according to the Maine State Police.
Dwight Norwood, 54, was charged with Class A aggravated trafficking in heroin. His wife, Melissa Norwood, 50, and James Richardson, 32, were charged with Class B trafficking in heroin. Mariah Norwood, 24, was charged with possession of heroin.
All are Ellsworth residents, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
[Sign up for our weekly Hancock County newsletter]
They made their first appearances Friday afternoon before District Court Judge John Martin, who was confirmed earlier this month by the Maine Senate. None of the defendants were asked to enter pleas because they have not yet been indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury.
The quartet allegedly was returning from Massachusetts with heroin bound for the Ellsworth area, Chris Ka Sin Chu, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, told Martin.
Dwight Norwood is on probation for trafficking in heroin. He was released from prison in September, after completing 10 months of a three-year sentence for that charge, McCausland said.
He remained Friday night at Penobscot County Jail unable to post $25,000 bail, according to information on the jail’s website. Richardson also remained at the jail Friday night.
Melissa Norwood is on probation from a 2018 conviction in Massachusetts for possession of cocaine and sale of heroin.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency made the arrests, with assistance from Holden police and Penobscot and Hancock county sheriffs offices, McCausland said.
Finn, a dog trained to detect the presence of drugs, and his handler, Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Frost, were among those who assisted, the sheriff’s office said in a Friday statement.
All four defendants are next due in court Dec. 10.