Eight York County residents have been indicted following a four-month investigation into a scheme to steal guns in burglaries and sell them in exchange for heroin.

State, county and federal authorities began investigating in November after two men and a woman were arrested on charges related to burglaries committed in York, Cumberland and Oxford counties.

Those three – Christopher Michaud, Cole Meserve and Amber Meserve – were accused of bringing guns they stole to a residence in Buxton, where they sold them for money and drugs, Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

Following their arrests last Nov. 21, police executed search warrants in Buxton and Limerick. They recovered numerous stolen items, including seven firearms in those searches. That led deputies from the York County Sheriff’s Office to recover 13 more guns from a Buxton resident last Nov. 24, McCausland said.

“After the arrest of the Meserves and Michaud, the guns were transported from Buxton to a home in Limington to hide them from police. It is believed that some of the guns were transported to Massachusetts to be sold for heroin,” McCausland said in the written statement.

Prosecutors presented their case to a York County grand jury this week, which indicted the following people:

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• Michaud, 23, of Limerick; Cole Meserve, 21, of Limerick; and Amber Meserve, 22, of Limerick, each on five counts of burglary, one count of attempted burglary, 17 counts of theft of a firearm and four counts of theft.

• Dale Pinkham Sr., 54, of Buxton on 12 counts of receiving a stolen firearm and one count of conspiracy to receive a stolen firearm.

• Louise Cook, 50, of Buxton on 12 counts of receiving a stolen firearm, one count of conspiracy to receive a stolen firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cook was also issued a summons during the investigation to face a charge of possession of heroin.

• David Rush, 43, of Limington on 12 counts of receiving a stolen firearm and one count of conspiracy to receive a stolen firearm.

• Raymond Pinkham, 21, of Buxton on one count of receiving a stolen firearm.

• Robert Pinkham, 19, of Buxton on one count of receiving a stolen firearm.

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Michaud, the Meserves and Raymond Pinkham are all in custody at the York County Jail while the charges are pending. Dale Pinkham is serving a prison sentence on an unrelated case. The others are scheduled to appear in court to face the charges at a future date.

Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan


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