Four people arrested in July on suspicion of making and selling methamphetamine have been indicted on drug charges by a Franklin County grand jury.
Jason Fowler, 40, of Chesterville; Michael Halle, 45, of Phillips; Erin Smith, 43, of Phillips; and Kimberly Webber, 25, of Vienna, were each indicted Tuesday on a class B charge of trafficking methamphetamine.
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An indictment is not a determination guilt, but indicates there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. If found guilty, the class B charge of trafficking schedule W drugs is punishable by up to 10 years incarceration and a $20,000 fine.
A prosecutor previously said Halle, who moved to the area from Florida last year, was teaching the others how to make the drug. Authorities said Halle created a safety risk with the volatile manufacturing process.
The four were arrested after a joint investigation by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Franklin County Sheriff Department.
The investigation started after police received a report of a meth manufacturing operation in Phillips. Several weeks into the investigation, Detective Ken Charles pulled Fowler over for driving with a suspended license. Charles said he found evidence of the drug in the car and Fowler and passenger Webber were arrested. Webber allegedly told police she bought manufacturing ingredients for Fowler.
Police and drug agents later went to Halle and Smith’s home on Rangeley Road in Phillips, where authorities said they seized items used to manufacture the drug.
They found similar items in the car, including intact one-pot labs, methamphetamine, lithium strips and a receipt from the purchase of Sudafed, which contains pseudoephedrine, which is used to make meth. Suspicious material was also seized from a Chesterville residence, authorities said.
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