LEOMINSTER — On Friday, May 1, 2026, Detective Jonathon Monahan of the Leominster Police Department said Leominster District Court granted police a warrant to search 43-year-old Juan Leger and his residence at 91 Mechanic Street for fentanyl and items related to fentanyl distribution.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Jonathan Monahan and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
On May 4, 2026, Detective Monahan said members of the North Worcester County Drug Task Force, a Gardner Police Department K9 officer, a Lunenburg Police Department K9 officer and members of the Worcester House of Correction were briefed on the investigation that led to the issuance of the search warrant, as well as the parameters of the warrant and the items to be searched for.
“Law enforcement officers (LEOs) were also told that we were to knock and announce our presence and that we were authorized to search any person present,” Detective Monahan said. “All officers involved in the execution of the search warrant were wearing raid apparel with ‘POLICE’ prominently displayed.”
Detective Monahan said that on the same date, at approximately 5:30 a.m., surveillance was established in the area of 91 Mechanic Street.
“At approximately 6:00 a.m., law enforcement approached the door of the residence and announced our presence and received no response, at that time, a forced entry was made into Apartment 5,” Detective Monahan said.
Detective Monahan said that upon executing the search warrant at the residence, police located the following people inside the apartment:
- Juan Leger: target of the search warrant, located in the living room
- Leger’s girlfriend, located in the bedroom on the right side of the residence
- Leger’s girlfriend’s daughter, located in the bedroom on the left side of the residence
Police located and seized the following from the apartment:
- 29 white oval pills in an unlabeled prescription container, stamped NT 150, identified as gabapentin, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- 27 white oval pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped D 24, identified as gabapentin, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- 16 white round pills packaged in clear wrap, stamped PLIVA 434, identified as trazodone, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- Two white oval pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped G 13, identified as gabapentin, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- Six white round pills packaged in clear wrap, stamped F84, identified as quetiapine fumarate, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- 2.5 green round pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped TEVA 833, identified as clonazepam, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- One blue round pill in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped C 1, identified as clonazepam, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- 16 white round pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped 241 I, identified as lorazepam, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- Six orange round pills packaged in clear wrap, stamped R 029, identified as alprazolam, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- Six orange round pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped R 127, identified as clonidine, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- 57 white round pills in an unlabeled prescription bottle, stamped U 135, identified as clonidine, located in the top dresser drawer of Leger’s bedroom
- Four white containers with a brown, chunky substance inside each, believed to be hashish, weighing approximately four grams gross weight, located on a bookshelf in Leger’s bedroom
- One scale, located in the closet of Leger’s bedroom
- One blue container with white residue, located in a 2017 Acura MDX
- Two key fobs for the Acura MDX
- Miscellaneous paperwork for the Acura MDX
- 49.97 grams gross weight of marijuana, located in the closet of Leger’s bedroom
“Based on my training and experience, having this amount of narcotics in one’s possession along with the scales and sandwich bags is consistent with the intent to distribute,” Detective Monahan said.
Police also seized $6,384 in cash, which they identified as proceeds from drug distribution, in the following denominations:
- $100 bills — quantity: 11
- $50 bills — quantity: 10
- $20 bills — quantity: 219
- $10 bills — quantity: 30
- $5 bills — quantity: 18
- $1 bills — quantity: 14
“Based on my training and experience, I know that individuals involved in the illegal sale of drugs will possess money comprised of either large denomination bills or a large quantity of $20.00 bills,” Detective Monahan explained. “This is done to simplify keeping track of their money and paying their source of supply when re-supplying their stock of drugs being sold. Furthermore, I know that the most common denomination used in drug transactions is the $20.00 bill and drug prices are often set to allow the use of $20.00 bills and not require change to be paid to the purchaser.”
Detective Monahan said that after police completed the search of the residence, they left Leger’s copy of the search warrant attached to the refrigerator in the kitchen.
Leger was subsequently placed under arrest and transported to the Leominster Police Department for booking.
Police cleared Leger’s residence at approximately 7:15 a.m.
When he was back at the police station, Detective Monahan said he observed that the seized cash had been separated into numerous $100 packets and then banded together with rubber bands.
“Based on my training and experience, I recognized that currency bundled in this manner is frequently associated with monies derived from the sale of illegal drugs,” Detective Monahan said. “Furthermore, I know that individuals engaged in the distribution of drugs rarely utilize banking institutions. These individuals frequently keep their profits as cash so that they have money on hand to use when re-supplying with drugs as well as conduct their daily personal business using cash. In addition to keeping cash, individuals involved in selling illegal drugs bundle their money in the described manner (commonly referred to ‘a stack’) so that they can easily keep track of the cash on hand by counting the bundles of $100.00 rather than counting large quantities of individual bills.”
Juan Leger, 43, of 91 Mechanic Street, Apt. 5, Leominster, was charged with the following:
- Possess Class E Drug (seven counts)
- Possess to Distribute Class E Drug (one count)
- Possess Class C Drug (four counts)
- Possess to Distribute Class C Drug (one count)
- Possess Class D Drug, Subsequent Offense (hashish; one count): “Leger’s BOP [Board of Probation record] indicates numerous prior convictions for possession of a Class D drug,” Detective Monahan said.
Leger was arraigned in Leominster District Court on May 4, 2026. Following his arraignment, he was released on $5,000 cash bail under the condition that he not use or possess illegal drugs.
Leger then attended a pretrial conference hearing on May 27, 2026.
Leger’s next court date is a compliance and election hearing scheduled for July 9, 2026.
(Editor’s note: Although Detective Monahan’s report said the warrant authorized police to search Leger’s apartment for fentanyl and items related to fentanyl distribution, the drugs Detective Monahan listed as seized included prescription pills, hashish, and marijuana, but not fentanyl.)
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in May, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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