WELLFLEET — A three-month investigation into a Wellfleet narcotics operation came to a head late last week with the coordinated arrests of three Outer Cape residents.
Wellfleet Police Sgt. Paul Clark arrested Felicia Daley, 50, of Eastham, on March 1; she was arraigned the next day in Orleans District Court on one count of possessing cocaine, a Class B controlled substance. On March 3, a team of officers from Wellfleet, Eastham, and Truro — plus one Barnstable-based K9 unit — raided the source of Daley’s cocaine and the subject of their long-term investigation: the Wellfleet home of Rafe Emond, 52, and Lisa Klugman, 54, at 75 Spring Valley Road.
Judge Robert Welsh III arraigned Emond and Klugman on March 4 on twin slates of four charges. They face two felony counts — trafficking in more than 10 grams of fentanyl and trafficking in between 18 and 36 grams of cocaine — and two counts of possessing class B drugs, a misdemeanor.
Klugman posted Emond’s $25,000 cash bail; Wellfleet’s Jennifer Pierce, a National Park Service employee, posted another $25,000 for Klugman. The pair must remain drug-free or see their bail revoked.
By Felicia Daley’s March 1 arrest, Sgt. Clark and Det. Nicholas Daley had, Clark wrote in his police report, spent three months observing the comings and goings at Emond and Klugman’s residence. They had help: semi-regular updates from a confidential informant, relayed by Orleans Det. Sgt. Andrew McLaughlin. Per Clark’s police report, the informant first came onto the scene on Jan. 13, when he told McLaughlin that he had information about Emond “selling ‘ounces to kilos of cocaine’ from his residence.” And on Jan. 15, the informant told McLaughlin that Felicia Daley was a reliable customer.
Clark followed Felicia Daley’s vehicle to Emond and Klugman’s house on March 1, watched her linger in the driveway for just over a minute, and promptly pulled her over. She was not yet under arrest, he told her.
“I will be after what they find in the car,” she told him.
Officers seized a baggie of white powder in her driver’s-side-door compartment; they took her into custody. She was released the next day after posting $40 bail.
On March 3 came the investigation’s climax. When that cross-Cape team of officers executed a search warrant at Emond’s and Klugman’s home, Emond, according to Det. Daley’s arrest report, asked officers to “just arrest him and leave Lisa Klugmam, who also lives at 75 Spring Valley Rd., out of it.” He also told them “that there were ‘a lot of drugs downstairs.’ ” They ignored his plea and seized upon his statement.
Throughout the house, Det. Daley wrote, “there were signs of illegal narcotic activity.” In Klugman’s upstairs bedroom, officers found drug residue, spoons, and an unmarked pill bottle with 161 unidentified pills. In Emond’s basement room, K9 Shelly indicated the presence of narcotics in a bedside dresser.
With K9 Shelly’s direction, officers found 64.79 grams of fentanyl, 22.34 grams of cocaine, 12 oxycodone pills, 8 Suboxone pills, 15 unidentified brown capsules, .33 grams and .43 grams of separate types of “unidentified brown powder,” three varieties of “unidentified white powder,” plus .52 grams of “unknown white powder,” 11.55 ounces of marijuana, 4 scales, 11 packages of baggies, and $17,371 cash in a black bag. They also seized seven cell phones, an iPad, and assorted drug paraphernalia.
The investigation remains open, Wellfleet Lt. Kevin LaRocco wrote in a press release. For now, per Massachusetts’s Section 31, Emond’s and Klugman’s cocaine and fentanyl-trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum sentences of two years and three-and-a-half years, respectively. Unless either Emond or Klugman violate the terms of their release before then, the pair will next appear in court on April 1 for a pretrial hearing.
