Officials seize 500 pounds of pot, Vinland man charged

A 64-year-old town of Vinland man faces a felony charge after authorities say they seized 500 pounds of marijuana worth as much as $1.5 million this week from his home, making it the largest marijuana bust in Winnebago County.

Gerald W. Walters was charged Tuesday, June 9, in Winnebago County Circuit Court with one count of manufacturing or delivering more than 10,000 grams of marijuana, according to online court records. Walters has no prior criminal record.

"We are very concerned but very relieved that we were able to put an end to this operation," Winnebago County Sheriff John Matz said. "The defendant, Mr. Walters, appeared to be very experienced in the trade and had quite a system going. We believe that this was going on for quite some time, but we do not know how big his distribution circle is yet, until we have an opportunity to look at laptops and other things."

At about 11 a.m., Monday, June 8, the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant on the property Walters shares with his presumed girlfriend in the 7200 block of Fahley Road in the town of Vinland, Capt. Dave Mack said. Authorities found and seized 43 pounds of cut marijuana and 475 marijuana plants, which typically would be worth $500,000 to $1.5 million, depending on quality, and investigators determined the quality to be fairly high.

"In 20 years of law enforcement, I have never been a part of a seizure this size," Mack said. "There was no way that we could have anticipated something of this size at that location."

Authorities also seized several bags of marijuana seeds, as well as digital scales, cash and electronic devices from another part of the residence that appeared to be used for the business operations, Mack said.

The investigation started after a May 4 tip from a confidential informant of the North Central Drug Enforcement Group in Oneida County that led authorities to search Walters' residence, Mack said. Additional charges, both in Winnebago County and elsewhere, are a possibility as detectives continue their investigation, he said.

As of Wednesday evening, the 58-year-old woman authorities say also lived at the residence had not been charged, though the sheriff's office has requested charges of maintaining a drug trafficking place and manufacturing or delivering more than 10,000 grams of marijuana. Oshkosh Northwestern Media typically does not publish the names of individuals until charges are filed.

Reach Nathaniel Shuda at 920-426-6632 or nshuda@thenorthwestern.com; on Twitter @onwnshuda.