WESTFIELD — Christopher C. Wert finds himself held in the Hampden County Correctional Center for the third time in the past year after he was charged with possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms allegedly found by police during a traffic stop Feb. 25, police said Thursday.
The 26-year-old Southwick Road man had just been released from jail just 11 days before.
According to police Capt. Michael McCabe, Wert was originally arrested on drug charges last April 14. He was released on his personal recognizance pending a later pretrial hearing, but was ordered by the judge to remain drug and alcohol free. However, Wert tested positive for marijuana use during a routine drug screen on June 22. He was jailed until July 20, when a district court judge allowed him free on $1,000 cash bail. Wert was again jailed on Dec. 17, when he failed two drug tests.
Not quite two weeks after he was released Feb. 14 from the Ludlow jail, a Westfield police officer said he stopped Wert and arrested him for driving with a suspended license. During a routine inventory of the contents of the towed car, police found a one-half pound bag of mushrooms that Wert said he was trying to sell.
He was arraigned in Westfield District Court for possession of a Class C substance with the intent to distribute, and was ordered held without the right to bail pending a March 26 hearing.
