Major Marijuana-Growing Bust in Waltham Nets Former Watertown Official

Former Watertown Town Councilor Thomas “Gus” Bailey was arrested Wednesday night after a Waltham warehouse filled with marijuana plants was raided by Waltham Police.

Bailey, 49, and two co-defendants — Clay Gollibin, 42, of Brookline and Eric Falzon, 43, of Newton — were arraigned in Waltham District Court today, Oct. 20, on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate drug laws and trafficking marijuana.

Bailey is being held on $1 million bail, and Gollibin is being held on $100,000 bail, set by District Court Judge Tobin Harvey. Falzon’s attorney was not at the hearing, so the bail was set.

Waltham Police raided what appeared to be an empty warehouse at 269 Lexington St. in Waltham Wednesday night. Bailey bought the warehouse for $460,000 in cash in July, according to Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Jay Livingstone.

The three suspects were inside the building when police entered, and officers found about 700 marijuana plants, hundreds of pounds of loose marijuana and a large number of plants in various stages of drying, Livingstone said.

Police also found $20,000 in cash at the warehouse, Livingstone said.

Waltham Police had been tipped off by a Framingham police detective on Oct. 14 about a warehouse in the city where marijuana was being grown, according to a statement in the court file submitted by Waltham Police Detective Joseph Connors.

After examining the building with the help of detectives from the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force, Waltham Police determined there could be a “grow” area inside.

They noted foil on the windows, which blocks people looking inside and masks the smell of the marijuana, Connors said in his statement. Also, he saw two “very large commercial exhaust fans” on the building, both of which were running.

Beginning at 11 a.m., Waltham Police watched the warehouse, and saw a few people pull up, go inside and leave after just a few minutes.

Police followed one of the people and stopped him after a few blocks to question him. The man, who was not charged with the three defendants, said he had a large amount of marijuana in a brown paper bag.

“He purchased it from Mr. Bailey for $800,” Livingstone said.

After the stop, Waltham Police raided the building and found the plants and other items, Livingstone said.

Bailey was the District B Councilor, and stepped down in 2005.

Livingstone had asked for $2 million bail for each of the defendants, beacuse they might flee the area. Judge Harvey disagreed and lowered the amount.

He and Gollibin will be back in court on Nov. 7 for a pretrial hearing.

Editor's Note: A previous edition of this story reported that Bailey was a Waltham resident. Additional information indicates he is actually a Watertown resident.