39 weapons are seized from co-defendant

The three men remain in pretrial custody; the woman is free on bond.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A veritable arsenal of firearms -- 24 shotguns, 12 handguns and three rifles -- was confiscated in Hubbard from a felon among those now charged with operating a marijuana factory.
The list of weapons seized from Anthony J. Fawcett, 54, of Fifth Avenue, Hubbard, is contained in a federal indictment filed against him and three co-defendants. The government said Fawcett, convicted of a heroin charge in 1976, was prohibited from possessing firearms.
The indictment filed Nov. 16 charges that Fawcett; his ex-wife, Mary Fawcett, 45; Robert J. Poghen, 62, of Westminster Drive, Austintown; and Robert Maker, 62, of Stewart Court, Washington, Pa., cultivated and distributed marijuana. All four were arraigned this week in U.S. District Court.
The three men remain in custody pending trial. Mary Fawcett was released Thursday on $25,000 unsecured bond. No trial date was set.
DEA findings
In late October, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration task force used search warrants to enter 30 Strausbaugh Ave. and across the street at F & amp;F Pastas, 1097 Wick Ave. The pasta shop is owned by Fawcett's ex-wife, the government said.
DEA agents from the Pittsburgh office raided Maker's residence.
Poghen, Maker and Anthony Fawcett were taken into custody at the Strausbaugh Avenue location, described in court papers as a building housing indoor marijuana cultivation. Mary Fawcett turned herself in Thursday.
Agents also found cultivated marijuana and the firearms during a raid at the Fawcetts' home, the government said.
In all, more than 1,000 marijuana plants in various stages of growth were found, DEA Special Agent Douglas E. Lamplugh, in charge of the Youngstown office, has said.
The government has asked that the four defendants forfeit all property connected to the marijuana business. The list includes the properties on Wick Avenue in Youngstown and Fifth Avenue in Hubbard; $6,720 seized from the Fawcetts; $9,720 seized from Poghen; and all the firearms.
In an affidavit, Boardman Sgt. Michael Hughes, a task force agent, said he obtained information that Anthony Fawcett was distributing large amounts of marijuana and that the operation was close to the pasta store. Hughes said Anthony Fawcett's name turned up in a 2000 DEA marijuana case.
What was observed
Agents who conducted surveillance of the building at 30 Strausbaugh discovered it had large exhaust fans running constantly. They didn't see any signs of a legitimate business.
The rear windows and doors were replaced with cement block, and the rear of the property has a new chain-link fence with barbed wire.
Hughes used a thermal imaging camera on the building in August and observed heat being emitted, consistent with lights used to grow marijuana. He said the smell of marijuana was detected from an air vent.
Vindicator files show that Poghen, under FBI surveillance in an organized crime investigation in 1982, was indicted that year in a shooting and robbery at Long's Greenhouse on Dearborn Street. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
meade@vindy.com