A Cornville man was being held Friday at the Somerset County Jail on charges that he broke into the home of a medical marijuana caregiver and made off with a boat motor – and several pounds of pot.

Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said Nelson Wheeler, 26, is charged with a class C felony theft by receiving stolen property – the 2.2-horsepower Mercury boat motor. The alleged marijuana theft remains under investigation, he said.

Lancaster said Wheeler is charged with a felony because he has previous burglary and theft convictions.

The sheriff’s office received a report of a burglary on Town Farm Road in Cornville on Aug. 15, the sheriff said. The victim is a licensed medical marijuana caregiver.

On Aug. 29, police learned that Wheeler was offering to sell a 2.2-horsepower Mercury boat motor and authorities arranged to meet him in Skowhegan. At the meeting location, a sheriff’s office detective confronted Wheeler and the victim identified the Mercury outboard.

Wheeler faces up to five years in prison. He is scheduled to appear Nov. 22 in Somerset County Unified Court.

Lancaster would not say how many pounds of medical marijuana were stolen. He said with more medical marijuana being grown in Maine, there has been an increase in related criminal activity.

“We have had several reports of providers who have had their product stolen from them,” he said.

Wheeler is being held in lieu of $2,500 cash bail or $50,000 property bond.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with any information is asked to call Detective Michael Ross of the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division at 858-9530 or email michael.ross@somersetcounty-me.org.

Doug Harlow can be contacted at 612-2367 or at:

dharlow@centralmaine.com;

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow;http://twitter.com/Doug_Harlow