BETHEL — A Bethel man released from prison this week after serving six months on a meth lab conviction was found dead late Friday morning inside his house, police said.
Joel Mills, 39, was released from Cumberland County Jail in Portland on Wednesday, Oxford County Sgt. Timothy Holland said Friday afternoon.
“He was found dead in his bedroom by his dad this morning,” Holland said. Mills lived at 779 Walkers Mill Road, which is Route 26.
At 11:22 a.m. Bethel Rescue and Holland responded to a report of a possible unattended death. Holland was later joined by Maine State Police Trooper Jason Wing and Oxford County Sheriff’s deputy Josh Daley.
By 2:30 p.m., the Cliff Gray Funeral Home in Bryant Pond retrieved Mills’ body.
Holland said the incident remains under investigation.
Mills was one of eight people from the Bethel area who were arrested Feb. 7, 2014, in raids by state and federal drug agents and state and county police on five one-pot methamphetamine labs.
All eight were charged with trafficking/manufacturing methamphetamine and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.
The raids were part of a three-month investigation into a large-scale meth production and distribution ring in the Bethel area. The meth, a highly addictive stimulant, was sold throughout Oxford County, police said.
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