RUMFORD — Police conducting a routine bail check on a Rumford man Tuesday discovered an elaborate marijuana growing operation in his basement, Detective Sgt. James Bernard said Wednesday.
Joshua N. Gilbert, 24, and Heather Souweine, 27, of 328 Pine St., were given court summonses on charges of felony cultivation of marijuana and unlawful furnishing of marijuana.
Gilbert was also charged with violating conditions of release due to the new criminal conduct, Bernard said.
Both will be arraigned June 17 in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris.
Bernard said Gilbert was arrested at 12:49 a.m. Sunday on Pine Street and charged with operating after suspension. He was summoned on charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Gilbert was released on $300 unsecured bail and was to be arraigned on July 5 in Rumford District Court.
On Tuesday, Officer Joseph Sage and Bernard went to Gilbert’s home to conduct a check to ensure that he was meeting conditions of bail.
“Our guys are very proactive when it comes to conducting bail checks,” Bernard said. “We’ve done eight bail checks in the last 30 days and found six individual bail violations.”
He said that when he and Sage arrived at Gilbert’s door, they were met with “an overwhelming smell of marijuana coming from inside the residence.”
Following an investigation inside, 122 marijuana plants varying in height from an inch to 4 feet and a half-pound of processed marijuana were seized, Bernard said.
Also seized were drug paraphernalia, marijuana growing literature and items used for weighing and packaging pot, he said.
The growing operation “was sophisticated in the sense that they had the proper equipment,” he said. “One grow light was on a motorized track so that it was self-propelled.”
Capt. Daniel Garbarini said the pot plants when mature would produce either half a pound or a pound of marijuana, which currently has a conservative street value of $1,500 to $3,000 per pound.
Bernard said the pot wasn’t being grown for medical marijuana use.
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- These are some of the more than 100 marijuana plants found growing in the basement of a Pine Street home Tuesday afternoon by Rumford police.
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- These are some of the more than 100 marijuana plants found growing at a Pine Street home on Tuesday afternoon in Rumford by police conducting a routine bail check for violations.
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- These marijuana plants were among the more than 100 seized Tuesday afternoon by Rumford police at a Pine Street home in Rumford.
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