Police allegedly seized 64 pounds of illegally grown dried marijuana buds and 72 pounds of marijuana trimmings from 12 Plum Lane in Georgetown. Photo courtesy of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office
A Georgetown man was arrested last week after police seized over 130 pounds of illegally grown marijuana that was worth about $260,000 and was allegedly headed for the out-of-state market, according to police.
On Nov. 9, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office members went to 12 Plum Lane in Georgetown to investigate a reported illegal marijuana growing operation, according to a statement from police.
Merry said after police spoke with William Plummer IV and received additional information that “further substantiated the presence of an illegal marijuana grow operation,” police searched the property in the early hours of Nov. 10, police said.
William Plummer V was arrested on Nov. 10 and with unlawful trafficking of a scheduled Z drug, a class C felony. Photo courtesy of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office
William Plummer V, 40, of Georgetown was arrested on Nov. 10 after police seized 64 pounds of illegally grown dried marijuana buds and 72 pounds of marijuana trimmings from 12 Plum Lane. Officers from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office also found equipment used to process the marijuana and other marijuana growing and personal use equipment at the property, according to a statement from police.
Plummer V was charged with unlawful trafficking of a scheduled Z drug, a class C felony punishable by up to five years incarceration and a $5,000 fine, according to the Maine Attorney General’s Office.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said Plummer V did not have a marijuana license of any kind.
The marijuana had an estimated street value of about $2,000 per pound or $260,000 in total. Police believe the marijuana seized was “headed for the out of state market,” according to a statement issued Thursday.
According to Georgetown tax documents filed last month, Plummer’s father, William Plummer IV, owns 12 Plum Lane where the illegal operation was based.
William Plummer IV served as a Georgetown selectman from 1995-2004, then again from 2010-2016. He ran again for the board in 2020, but lost to Bronwen Tudor by 13 votes.
Police wrote the ongoing investigation is being conducted by Deputy John Dietlin and Deputy Garrett Olson of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office. The Maine Drug Enforcement Administration and the Criminal Division of the Maine Office of the Attorney General are also involved in the investigation.
Merry declined to answer questions regarding whether police believe Plummer V was working alone or had help and whether the police have identified other persons of interest in this case.
Merry said he believes the discovery of this illegal marijuana-growing enterprise “speaks to a bigger problem in the state.”
“While medical and recreational marijuana are legal in Maine, that doesn’t mean a black market doesn’t exist, and it’s law enforcement’s responsibility to keep that in check,” said Merry. “While the state is trying to control recreational and medicinal marijuana, the loopholes that exist make it so these kinds of illegal enterprises can thrive. The government needs to take cases such as this where marijuana is being grown and exported illegally out of state seriously.”
After Mainers voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016, Georgetown residents voted to allow recreational marijuana manufacturing, testing and cultivation facilities to operate in Georgetown in 2019. However, residents voted against allowing marijuana retail businesses.
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