PORT CARBON - The green thumb behind the elaborate marijuana-growing operation uncovered by firefighters early Wednesday is behind bars, according to representatives of the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force.
Officers from the task force charged Dean Vermeersch, 53, with running the hydroponic marijuana operation on the second floor of 233 Coal St., according to documents filed in the office of Christina E. Hale, Frackville, the on-duty magisterial district judge who conducted the video arraignment Wednesday night.
The investigation, however, is still continuing, Schuylkill County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Reiley said Thursday.
"I had my doubts there was anybody else involved from the very beginning but, just to make sure, we're going to run down whatever leads we have," Reiley said.
Vermeersch bought 233 Coal St. on March 30 from Dale J. Smith for $14,000, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
According to the criminal complaint filed at 8:14 p.m. Wednesday, Vermeersch was charged with three felonies, one count each of possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance and causing or risking a catastrophe; seven misdemeanors, one count each of operation of a drug manufacturing establishment and being a public nuisance and five counts of possession of a controlled substance; and one summary violation of disorderly conduct.
Bail was set at $50,000 straight cash. Unable to pay it, Vermeersch remained in Schuylkill County Prison on Thursday afternoon, according to a prison spokesman.
The preliminary hearing will be held at the office of Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, but the date for that hearing had not been set Thursday, according to a secretary at Plachko's office.
Borough firefighters discovered the elaborate pot garden with more than 75 plants while battling an electrical fire at a duplex Wednesday morning.
An electrical circuit overload occurred at Vermeersch's home, 233 Coal St., a two-story apartment house, about 6 a.m. Wednesday. The blaze spread to 231 Coal St., a three-story home owned by Lamar E. Staller, 44, and his wife, Katrina M., 43. They lived there with their daughter, Becky, 14, and six cats.
The Stallers' six cats died in the blaze. A cat that lived at 233 Coal St. escaped the house but suffered burns and remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon at Schuylkill Veterinary Hospital, 1170 Route 61, Pottsville, according to Cathy Lishman, the hospital's manager.
"We have located the owner," Lishman said Thursday but she would not release the owner's name.
The blaze gutted both homes, making them unlivable, according to borough Fire Chief Michael E. Welsh.
It took firefighters and police more than two hours Wednesday to remove the remains of the marijuana-growing operation from the second floor of 233 Coal St. It included marijuana plants in gallon-sized buckets, an irrigation system made up of 55-gallon drums, chemicals, hoses, lights and packaging material like plastic bags.
While borough police Chief Jon J. Bowman was in charge of the drug investigation Wednesday, it became a joint investigation when the criminal complaint was being typed up Wednesday night.
According to the criminal complaint, the prosecuting officers were Bowman and county Detective Gregory S. Meisner.
"Numerous clear glassine bags containing green vegetative matter were found in the kitchen freezer," according to the criminal complaint.
All of those field-tested positive for marijuana, according to the criminal complaint.
Bowman referred all questions about the case to Reiley on Thursday.