Alleged drug supplier wants evidence found in apartment thrown out

LACONIA — A Tilton man, alleged to be the supplier of drugs bought in three drug buys last summer, is asking a Superior Court judge to prevent any drugs found in his apartment from being used as evidence in his trial.

The drugs in questions were seized during a search of the apartment of William J. Surowiec Jr., 40, at 251 Main St., Tilton.

Surowiec was indicted on multiple felony drug charges last November.

The searches were related to the sales to a confidential informant last July 25, Aug. 2 and Aug. 23. Surowiec is charged with three counts of being an accomplice in methamphetamine sales on those dates.

In Belknap County Superior Court on Friday, Surowiec’s attorney Wade Harwood argued that the any drugs found in the search of his client’s apartment should not be allowed into evidence because the affidavit seeking the search warrant failed to show probable cause that any illegal drugs might be there.

During the search, police found quantities of heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine and anabolic steroids, as well as scales, packaging and other drug paraphernalia. They also found money and guns in the residence.

At Friday’s hearing Harwood told Superior Court Justice James D. O’Neill III the drugs in question were sold by Brian Butler and that it was Butler who identified Surowiec as the supplier. He said that neither Butler nor the police ever saw anything first-hand that would give them a strong reason to believe that Surowiec had drugs in his apartment.

But County Attorney Andrew Livernois said police had ample reason to suspect there might be drugs in the apartment together with other evidence of drug activity.

He told O’Neill that Butler retrieved the drugs he sold to the informant from two vehicles registered to Surowiec. During one buy Butler went into the building where Surowiec’s apartment is located only to return empty-handed, explaining to the informant that Surowiec “was not at home.” But a short time Butler went back into the building and returned with drugs in hand.

“There’s a nexus to that apartment and a nexus to Surowiec,” Livernois told the judge.

O’Neill took the matter under advisement without making comments from the bench.

Butler, 42, of Franklin, is awaiting trial on four counts of sales of a controlled/narcotic drug. He is free on personal recognizance bail.

In addition to the methamphetamine possession/sale charges, Surowiec is facing up to 30 years in jail and a $500,000 fine on a special felony charge of possessing more than 5 grams of fentanyl. The methamphetamine charges carry a potential 3½- to 7-year sentence and a $100,000 fine. He is also charged with possession of methandrostenolone, alprazolam, buprenorphine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and testosterone enanthate, each carrying 3.5- to 7-year sentences and $25,000 fines.

Surowiec is free on $20,000 cash bail.