Community Corner

Wheeler Village Man Receives Five Year Sentence in Marijuana Sales Case

Dale Arpin accepted a five-year sentence after police found more than a kilogram of marijuana in his Southington home.

Southington police discovered more than a kilogram of marijuana inside the home of a Wheeler Village resident after a lengthy investigation and an arrest late last week will leave the man behind bars for the next two years.

Dale Arpin, of 100 Wheeler Village Drive in Southington, accepted a plea deal and entered a guilty plea to one count of possessing more than a quarter pound of marijuana on Friday, police and court records confirmed this week.

Arpin, who was charged during a habeas corpus appearance in Bristol Superior Court last week, was sentenced to five years in prison with the sentence suspended after two years served. As part of the agreement, he will also have to meet the conditions of a three-year probation period once he is released that also prevents him from possessing or using any drugs.

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said Wednesday that case extends back to an ongoing investigation that began in late 2011. Arpin, 36, was targeted as part of an investigation into sales in town, police said.

Detectives conducted a search of his Wheeler Village home and discovered a wide variety of marijuana, several pills, packaging substances and scales. The marijuana weighed more than a kilogram, police said, although further information was not available.

He was initially charged with possession of over one kilogram of marijuana, possession of over one kilogram with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics, possession of over four ounces of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a drug factory and risk of injury to a minor before the charges were reduced.

Messages left for Sgt. Lowell DePalma, the Southington Police Department spokesperson, were not returned on Wednesday.

Arpin has a criminal history including possession of marijuana in 2009 after Granby police discovered nearly a quarter ounce of marijuana in a separate investigation. He pleaded guilty to the charge two weeks later in Enfield Superior Court and was released after paying a $500 fine, according to court records.

Court records also indicated that Arpin was convicted of assaulting medical personal in 2004 and was given 18 months of probation. He also has an active case pending out of Enfield, but details of the case were not available on Wednesday.

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