TOWNSEND — Just before midnight on Thursday, April 3, Townsend’s police and fire departments responded to a reported building fire at 258 Main Street. Officer Christopher Low, the first to arrive, quickly extinguished a small blaze inside a first-floor apartment using a fire extinguisher.
According to a statement from the Townsend Police Department, when firefighters arrived on scene, they removed several smoldering items from the first‑floor apartment and uncovered potentially hazardous materials, including jars believed to contain THC distillate oil.
While inspecting the building for any spread of the fire, firefighters found what appeared to be a large-scale psilocybin mushroom growing operation on the second and third floors, which are occupied by different tenants. Due to the discovery of potentially hazardous materials in both apartments, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s Office were called in to investigate.
Townsend Police secured the building, restricting access to fire personnel only, until a search warrant was obtained from Ayer District Court on the afternoon of April 4.
Townsend police, with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police and the Department of Fire Services Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team, executed the search warrant.
Inside the first-floor apartment, occupied by 22-year-old Sean Doherty of Townsend, investigators found approximately 12 pounds of marijuana, 39 small glass jars and 7 large jars of THC distillate oil, small amounts of psilocybin mushrooms, 294 bags of THC edibles, 3,589 THC vape pens, 168 THC-infused chocolate bars, $13,876 in cash, and drug distribution paraphernalia.
On the building’s second and third floors—occupied by 27-year-old Jovens Rosirus and 24-year-old James Robinson—investigators uncovered a large‑scale mushroom operation: 40 clear, 16‑gallon tubs of psilocybin mushrooms in various stages of growth, 25 large plastic bags, and an additional clear container of dehydrated mushrooms, a wide variety of cultivation equipment, 60 THC‑infused chocolate bars, and a handwritten ledger detailing mushroom sales, among other items.
Townsend Police later obtained arrest warrants for Doherty, Rosirus, and Robinson, who had left the scene before the search was conducted.
Jovens Rosirus, 27, of Townsend, was charged with:
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class C drug (psilocybin mushrooms)
- Possession of a Class C drug
- Drug violation in a school zone
- Conspiracy to violate drug laws
James Robinson, 24, of Townsend, was charged with:
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class C drug (psilocybin mushrooms)
- Possession of a Class C drug
- Drug violation in a school zone
- Conspiracy to violate drug laws
Sean Doherty, 22, of Townsend, was charged with:
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class D substance (marijuana)
- Possession with intent to distribute drug paraphernalia
- Possession of a Class D substance
- Possession of a Class C substance
- Drug violation in a school zone
All three men were taken into custody and have been arraigned in Ayer District Court, according to a statement from the Townsend Police Department.
“I want to thank our officers and detectives for a thorough investigation into this matter. I also want to thank Massachusetts State Police and the Department of Fire Services for their assistance,” said Townsend’s Police Chief James Sartell. “This was a large-scale mushroom growing operation and a large scale, unlicensed, marijuana and THC distribution operation, both operating out of the same home on our Main Street.”
