Agents make arrests in Machias drug bust

MACHIAS – A Machias couple charged with selling heroin could face up to 10 years in prison.

Michael Thibeau, 39, and Kelly Pilesky, 25, were arrested Thursday night after authorities with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and local police officers with a search warrant raided a home at 2 O’Brien St.

State agents allegedly seized 15 bags of heroin worth $600 from the residence.

Thibeau and Pilesky were taken to Washington County Jail. They face felony charges of trafficking heroin.

Earlier in the week, MDEA agents and Machias police received information that Thibeau was leaving the state to obtain heroin and returning to the Machias area to sell it, according to MDEA Division Commander Darrell Crandall.

Undercover agents were able to purchase heroin from Thibeau and Pilesky at the O’Brien Street residence, he said.

The Machias Police Department, Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Warden Service assisted MDEA with the arrests.

Their investigation began in June when agents arrested Thibeau in Ellsworth, also on a charge of trafficking heroin. At that time, officers allegedly seized eight bags of heroin and money they say he received from a previous heroin sale.

Thibeau was jailed, released on bail and arrested less than a month later on a charge of violating the conditions of his probation.

Also arrested Thursday was Nicholas Johnson, who resides at the O’Brien Street home where the raid occurred. Johnson was wanted on a warrant charging him with failing to appear in court, police said.

Another incident at that address remains under investigation. On Aug 30, an ambulance was dispatched to the home for a suspected heroin overdose. An unidentified woman was taken to Down East Community Hospital. She was treated and then released, Crandall said.