NORRIDGEWOCK — A Norridgewock man who is a convicted felon faces drug charges after officials searched his home on Dodlin Road and seized illegal drugs and a gun he is prohibited from having, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Joshua Wheaton, 37, was arrested at about 3 p.m. Wednesday by sheriff’s deputies after they searched his apartment and seized 77 grams of fentanyl, an unspecified amount of methamphetamine and more than $6,500 in cash, according to a statement Sheriff Dale Lancaster released to the news media.
Deputies also found a .22-caliber rifle that Wheaton is prohibited from having because he is a convicted felon, Lancaster said.
The investigation began when the Sheriff’s Office received a call from someone reporting suspicious activity on Smithfield Road, where a maroon Jeep was parked behind a home and it did not belong to anyone at that home.
Deputies William Crawford IV and Logan Roberts went there and learned the Jeep was registered to Wheaton, for whom an arrest warrant had been issued for failing to appear in court on a theft charge, according to Lancaster.
The deputies went to Wheaton’s home and arrested him on the warrant, Lancaster said. While searching the apartment, they found more than 10 grams of fentanyl and about $1,200 cash in Wheaton’s pockets. The deputies then got a search warrant for the apartment.
Wheaton was charged with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs; possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.
Wheaton’s bail was set at $50,000 cash. He is scheduled to appear in court June 7.
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