Four face charges in marijuana sweep Former Palmyra selectman accused

SKOWHEGAN – A former Palmyra selectman is one of four people facing marijuana charges resulting from recent Somerset County Sheriff’s Department drug operations.

Carlton Preble, 65, a former Palmyra selectman and one of the founding members of Committee for Reasonable Taxes, which spearheaded the SAD 48 tax revolt, has been charged with felony trafficking of marijuana and cultivation of marijuana after 52 plants were seized and eradicated last week on his Davis Road property, according to a police official.

The late summer harvest of marijuana plants in Somerset County has been under way for two weeks, and at least 1,000 plants already have been seized, Lt. Carl Gottardi Jr. of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.

Using information gleaned from sources as well as helicopter surveillance, Gottardi’s team charged Preble and three others in Palmyra and Detroit with various drug cultivation and trafficking violations.

Gottardi said the pot seized on Preble’s property had a street value of $25,000 once grown to maturity and dried.

“One plant can yield 2 to 3 pounds of high-grade marijuana, if you know what you are doing,” he said. “But if you don’t, the same plants could be worth 20 bucks.”

Marijuana is being sold on the street for $140 to $200 an ounce, he said.

On Monday, two men were arrested and a woman summoned on Dogtown Road in Detroit.

Johnny Haskell Sr., 41, was charged with trafficking and cultivation of marijuana after several plants, processed marijuana, scales and other cultivation equipment were discovered at his residence. Two years ago, Gottardi seized more than 200 marijuana plants at the same location, and Haskell was convicted of pot cultivation.

Also arrested at the same location was Raymond Zona, 53, also charged with trafficking and cultivation.

Another resident, Karen Bertocchi, 57, was charged with trafficking in prison contraband based on an incident at the Somerset County Jail last November, said Gottardi.

Gottardi said this week’s sweep in eastern Somerset County follows raids in the Anson-Solon area.

“In some cases we just seized plants and there will be no one charged, but in other cases, they remain active investigations,” he said.