St. Vincent de Paul of Bend executive director arrested, accused of selling meth from Redmond home, near 2 schools
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – St. Vincent de Paul of Bend Executive Director Gary Lee Hewitt was arrested Thursday and arraigned Friday on methamphetamine delivery and possession charges, accused of selling commercial amounts of the drug from his Redmond home, located within 1,000 feet of two schools.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit concluded a short-term investigation with Thursday’s arrest of Hewitt, 58, of Redmond, Sergeant Jason Wall said.
Detectives learned Hewitt was selling commercial amounts of the drug from his home in southwest Redmond, Wall said, adding that they also learned of Hewitt's role as the executive director for St. Vincent De Paul of Bend, a nonprofit.
Detectives applied for and were granted a search warrant for Hewitt’s home. Assisted by detectives from the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) Team and sheriff’s office patrol deputies, detectives executed the search warrant and found a commercial quantity of meth, along with scales, packaging material and US currency, Wall said.
Hewitt was booked into the county jail and arraigned Friday afternoon on one count of delivering meth within 1,000 feet of a school, a Class A felony, and one count of possessing "substantial quantities" of the drug, a Class C felony. He remained held without bail Friday afternoon, jail records showed.
The state also alleges on the meth delivery charge that it involved 100 grams or more of the drug, or what the prosecutor said could be called a "super-substantial quantity."
The district attorney's information filed by Deputy DA Andrew Doyle alleges the possession was a "commercial drug offense" because Hewitt had $300 or more in cash, materials used to package and sell drugs and controlled substances greater than eight grams or more.
Court records show Hewitt was charged in February and is scheduled to enter a plea on Sept. 3 to a Class A misdemeanor count of failure to report as a sex offender.
They also show that Hewitt was arrested in 2011 on 10 first-degree counts of encouraging child sexual abuse, pleaded guilty to two of the charges and given a 30-month state prison term, with 10 years’ post-prison supervision. He also entered an Alford (conditional guilty) plea in 2009 to meth possession and second-degree theft.
NewsChannel 21 has reached out to St. Vincent de Paul for any comment or statement on Hewitt’s arrest.
