Rochester man gets alleged drug money back after possession charge unproved

Michael Demeritt (Rochester Police/2003 photo)

CONCORD - The New Hampshire Attorney General's office announced Wednesday it has returned $2,361 in cash seized from a Rochester man during a traffic stop last fall after investigators determined there was no evidence of controlled drugs in the vehicle he was riding in.
The incident that led to the seizure of the cash unfolded on Oct. 17, when Strafford County Drug Task Force member stopped a vehicle carrying Michael Demeritt, 38, of Rochester, as it was leaving the Dynasty Restaurant on Signal Street in Rochester.

Previous to the stop, court records show that task force members surveilled Demeritt riding in the car as it picked up a man on Winter Street nearby.

The vehicle, a Nissan Altima, was known to lawmen who had been apprised by an informant that Demeritt was dealing drugs, according to Assistant Attorney General Jesse O'Neill.
An affidavit states task force members followed Demeritt's vehicle to the restaurant, where Demeritt and the driver entered and the man they had picked up walked away.

When Demeritt and his female companion left the restaurant, the vehicle was stopped, and when Demeritt emptied his pockets for police, he was found to have $2,361 in cash but no drugs.

Demeritt claimed he had won the money from legal gambling.

Police searched the Altima the next day and found a hollow can that had a residue police thought may be residue of a controlled drug.

A subsequent search of Demeritt's residence turned up a reported 195 packets of synthetic cannabanoids along with a digital scale.

O'Neill filed a forfeiture petition against Demeritt in December, but on Wednesday, Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald issued a news release saying no illicit drugs were found in the can and the cash had already been returned to Demeritt.