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Weapons cache, drugs get man jail time

By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
Published: April 10, 2008

SALEM — A Salisbury man arrested last year after police found an arsenal of hundreds of weapons and explosives during a search for drugs at his home is going to state prison for 21/2 to four years.

The sentence for David Plonowski, 46, came about as the result of a plea agreement reached between his lawyer, James Frederick, and prosecutor John Brennan that was accepted yesterday by Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy.

Plonowski originally faced more than three dozen charges following the April 9, 2007, raid at his home at 28 Pike St., but was ultimately indicted on just three counts and yesterday pleaded guilty to just two: possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and carrying a firearm without a license.

Last year, members of the Northeast Merrimack Valley Drug Task Force from Salisbury, Amesbury and Merrimac began looking at Plonowski after receiving information from several sources that he was dealing drugs. Neighbors reported a high level of traffic coming to and from the house.

During an arrest in a domestic abuse case in February 2007, police noticed a couple of weapons. Plonowski's firearms identification card had expired.

On the day of the raid, police broke down the front door and found a little more than half an ounce of cocaine on Plonowski as well as a loaded .22-caliber handgun and $885 in cash, Brennan told the judge.

But inside the home, court records indicate police found 241 unique pieces of weaponry, ammunition, drugs, drug paraphernalia, knives, swords, books about weapons and other weapon- and drug-related items. Many of them were antique, and Plonowski claimed he was a collector.

The cache also included hand grenades, rifles, handguns, land mines and an 81 mm mortar shell.

That drew the state police bomb squad, which decided to destroy the items by blowing them up at Salisbury Beach.

The original 36 counts include 18 for carrying a firearm without a license, 15 counts of security violation for large capacity firearms, two counts of security violation of large-capacity weapons and one count of possession of cocaine.

Plonowski and his lawyer had filed a motion to suppress most of the evidence, contending that the search warrant had "fatal flaws," including outdated information from tipsters and references to supporting documents that were not included in the search warrant application.

That motion was never argued before a judge because Plonowski decided to plead guilty.

Plonowski spent 127 days in custody before he was released on bail last summer. He was put back in handcuffs yesterday after the hearing and will have to serve at least 21/2 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

The home at 28 Pike St. has been sold since the raid.

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