CHESTERVILLE – Police busted a Chesterville man on Monday and charged him with drug trafficking after finding an estimated eight pounds of marijuana in his home.

State Trooper Peter Michaud said police received a call from a passerby on Monday just after 12 p.m. who said a person was standing on the Farmington Falls Bridge in Chesterville and appeared to be intoxicated. The caller was concerned that the person on the bridge was going to jump, Michaud said.

When police arrived, the man on the bridge was gone, but information led Michaud, Sgt. Stephen Lowell and Cpl. Stephen Charles, both of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, to the home of Gregory Butterfield, 51.

Police said they found evidence of marijuana in the home while doing a welfare check on Butterfield.

After securing a search warrant, police said they uncovered between five and 10 pounds of marijuana. Michaud said on Tuesday morning that a conservative guess is that eight pounds were in the residence, however, not all of the evidence has been processed and weighed.

Some of the marijuana found was processed, divided into bags and ready for sale, the trooper said.

Also found was smoking and growing paraphernalia including pipes and lamps.

Police also found more than $1,000 cash and a loaded pistol, Michaud said.

In the end, Butterfield admitted he had been on the bridge and that he had been drinking but was not suicidal, Michaud said.

The Chesterville man was arrested Monday afternoon and taken to the Franklin County Detention Center where he is being held on $5,000 bail or $50,000 in surety.

As of Tuesday afternoon, he had yet to post bail.

He is charged with a felony class C trafficking of marijuana.

Butterfield was also hit with a civil charge of possession of paraphernalia, which could require him to pay a fine.

Assisting Michaud in the investigation was Lowell, Charles, Det. David St. Laurent, Det. Tom White and Deputy Sandy Burke, all of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.


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