LITTLE COMPTON -- State and town police have arrested two men on charges that they were illegally growing and selling marijuana from two houses in this rural town near the Massachusetts border.
William Maney, 50, of 1 High Meadow Rd., Little Compton, and Matthew Cornacchia, 51, of 160 County Lane., Leominster, Mass., were each charged with cultivation of marijuana with intent to deliver and cultivation of marijuana. Maney also faces four counts of delivery of marijuana to a police officer, while Cornacchia faces an additional charge of maintaining a narcotics nuisance.
State Police Col. Steven G. O'Donnell and Little Compton Police Chief Sidney Worrell said in a news release that the two agencies spent the past two months investigating the marijuana operation in Little Compton.
Maney had a medical marijuana card issued by the state Health Department that allowed him to grow up to 24 marijuana plants and have up to five patients in the state program. But the state police allege that he was "operating outside the scope" of the program and "selling to individuals without a medical marijuana license."
More than 5,000 patients in Rhode Island have medical marijuana licenses to treat a variety of ailments including glaucoma, HIV-AIDS, loss of appetite and stress.
The police reported that on three different occasions, an undercover state police detective bought marijuana from Maney and, on Sept. 5, Maney was arrested in Tiverton. The state police said they got a court-authorized warrant and searched his home. Inside, they found 32 marijuana plants and three others growing in the back yard. They also seized 25 ounces of marijuana and $10,600 in cash.
On Tuesday, the state police and Little Compton police executed a second search warrant at 56 Long Highway that led to Cornacchia's arrest. "The entire house had been set up and arranged for the marijuana growing operation," the state police reported.
"Multiple rooms on all three floors were dedicated exclusively for the various stages of the marijuana cultivational and operational process," according to the state police. Seized were 32 marijuana plants, 22 root stems from harvested plants and about 100 pounds of marijuana that was cut and in the process of being packaged.
Maney was arraigned at the Wickford Barracks of the state police and released on $10,000 surety bail, or $1,000 cash. Cornacchia was arraigned in Second District Court and ordered held on $30,000 surety bail, or $3,000 cash.