OTISFIELD – An Otisfield man was arrested Tuesday on a charge of cultivating marijuana that police uprooted outside his home last Friday.

Stephen C. Holden, 44, was taken into custody when he showed up at his home at 251 Ahonen Road while Maine game wardens were executing a search warrant for illegal fish in his pond, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chancey Libby said Tuesday night.

Holden’s neighbor, 23-year-old Nicholas Palmer of 233 Ahonen Road, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of stocking Holden’s pond with bass and pickerel, which is against Maine law, Libby said.

Palmer was also charged with cultivating pot after the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency searched his and Holden’s properties Friday and found about 50 plants growing outside each residence, Libby said.

The fish in the pond were spotted at that time and a search warrant was obtained, he explained. Warden Stephen Allory led Tuesday’s search, accompanied by several other wardens, a state biologist, Maine State Police Trooper Adam Fillebrown and Libby.

Libby said Holden has three previous drug convictions.

– Mary Delamater