FARMINGTON — A Franklin County grand jury Wednesday indicted a local couple in a case involving operation of a methamphetamine lab and endangering the welfare of their three children.
Douglas Theriault Courtesy photo from Franklin County Detention Center
Douglas Theriault, 37, and his wife, Katherine Theriault, 29, were each indicted on one count of aggravated operation of methamphetamine lab, one count of conspiracy and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The couple was arrested May 15 after Farmington police were called to 488 Knowlton Corner Road for a report of an overdose.
After their arrests, the Theriaults pleaded not guilty to endangering the welfare of their children ages 7, 3 and 1. They couldn’t plead to the methamphetamine charge because at the time they had not been indicted.
According to an affidavit by Farmington Sgt. Edward Hastings IV, he and officer Jacob Richards responded to a report of an overdose at the couple’s home about 1 a.m. on May 15. Hastings was met on the front porch by a 7-year-old child who directed him inside where Hastings met with Katherine Theriault. Douglas Theriault was lying on the kitchen floor.
Hastings administered Narcan, an opioid blocker, along with other first aid measures before Theriault was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
At the time, Hastings wrote that Theriault was recently arrested for violating conditions of release by testing positive for meth.
Katherine Theriault Courtesy photo from Franklin County Detention Center
Police found a needle cap and white powder on the kitchen floor and near the kitchen sink. They also noted that Katherine Theriault exhibited signs of meth use.
“During our interaction at the residence, the children were sitting on a pullout bed in the living room, in front of the TV, and were otherwise exposed to the drug-use environment,” Hastings wrote. “There was only a short dividing wall as tall as an oven between the children and where Mr. Theriault collapsed.”
Richards noticed a “one-pot meth lab” in a one-gallon milk jug on the front lawn to the left of the entryway door. Maine Drug Enforcement agents confirmed it was consistent with the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
While executing a search warrant, police found all of the components for manufacturing meth in Douglas Theriault’s bedroom. Katherine Theriault “admitted” to a drug agent that she bought pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in meth, Hastings wrote.
The couple are each being held on $10,000 cash bail at the Franklin County Detention Center and remained in custody on Wednesday.
A conviction on the meth lab charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. A conviction on the conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. Conviction on each child endangerment charge is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
NOTE: The couple was arrested at their home at 488 Knowlton Corner Road. It was incorrectly reported.
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