Two men are facing separate charges after police raided a marijuana-growing operation this week at 937 Hallowell-Litchfield Road in West Gardiner.

Kristopher Brill, 37, of Farmingdale, was summoned on a charge of cultivating marijuana.

Joseph Dunn, 37, of Belgrade, was charged with obstructing government administration. Dunn was arrested and taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta on Monday afternoon and later freed on $100 bail.

Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police, said Brill, who owned the facility, had permission to grow marijuana, but his limit was 18 plants.

“Troopers located 79 plants between 2 and 3 feet tall and well cultivated,” McCausland said.

Brill owns the former Cobbosseecontee Grange building.

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McCausland said Dunn was working on equipment at the facility. He said Dunn operates a plant-growing supply store on Route 27 in Augusta.

Troopers raided the West Gardiner building after receiving a tip from Central Maine Power Co. workers.

Maine State Police Trooper Chris Rogers said a transformer had malfunctioned, and workers replacing it reported the odor of marijuana emanating from a building whose windows were boarded up and painted black.

“As we drove down the road, we could smell it,” Rogers said. The raid followed several weeks of surveillance.

McCausland said Dunn is on federal probation, and investigators were checking with the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services office to see whether Dunn faces more charges in connection with that.

Dunn pleaded guilty in May 2012 to attempting to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and distribution of marijuana. He was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.


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