LEWISTON — A Delaware man found in his Bartlett Street apartment with more than 200 grams of heroin and crack cocaine, assault rifles and handguns appeared in court Monday.
Jeramie Isler, 24, of Wilmington, Delaware, was arrested late Friday and charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, each Class A felony offense punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
He also was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Drug possession is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail.
Isler didn’t enter a plea to the charges because felonies must be handed up by a grand jury.
Law enforcement officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant on Friday evening at 141 Bartlett St., where Isler was found in his bedroom with more than 100 grams of heroin, more than 100 grams of crack cocaine, two assault rifles, two semi-automatic pistols, more than 200 rounds of ammunition and nearly $3,000 in cash, according to a police detective’s affidavit.
Another person who was in the apartment at the time of the search told officers that Isler’s street name was “SoSo.”
According to the affidavit, confidential informants bought cocaine at that address on at least two nights.
In 8th District Court on Monday, Judge John Martin kept Isler’s bail at $50,000 with no third-party bail allowed.
Assistant District Attorney Nathan Walsh said Isler has “extensive law enforcement contacts” in Delaware, including a felony drug conviction in 2014 and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in 2016.
If released, he may not leave Maine. He is barred from having alcohol, illegal drugs and dangerous weapons, including firearms, and can be searched at any time for those items.
Judge Martin appointed an attorney to represent him.
Isler may not have any contact with Eric Galarneau, 33, of Poland, who also was arrested on Friday and appeared in court Monday.
In the affidavit, one of the confidential informants identified Galarneau as having been in the apartment during the police search Friday and was known to use heroin and sell smaller amounts of narcotics for another dealer at that apartment.
Galarneau was charged on five outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court. The charges listed in the warrants include felony unlawful possession of heroin, felony theft and illegal possession of a firearm and misdemeanor theft.
Walsh said a grand jury indictment against Galarneau in connection with Friday’s drug bust “is entirely possible.”
Lawyer Lorne Fairbanks, who represented Galarneau at Monday’s court appearance, said the defendant had been out of state working in construction when he learned of his court date. His family lives locally, Fairbanks said.
Judge Martin set bail at $2,500 cash, given Galarneau’s history of missing court dates.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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