Man charged with OUI and numerous firearms and drugs offenses

ROWLEY — A man is being held on $100,000 cash bail after he was charged with numerous firearms and drug offenses over the weekend, police said.

The man is scheduled to be arraigned in Newburyport District Court Monday morning.

The incident happened Saturday at 10:39 pm after a witness said an erratic operator had pulled into the weigh station on I-95 south in Rowley.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Charles Buckley responded and police said he found the vehicle, a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander, “in a corner of the darkened weigh station.”

While speaking with the lone occupant, Stewart Silvestri, 24, of Brookline, police said Buckley “observed a handgun with a 50-round drum magazine in plain sight inside the vehicle.”

“The trooper then observed another handgun under the driver’s seat,” state police said.

“At that time, Trooper Buckley removed Silvestri from the vehicle and secured him for reasons of officer safety while continuing his investigation. Other MSP personnel began responding to assist,” police said.

In total, troopers found “seven polymer handguns and one AR-style short-barreled rifle inside the vehicle,” police said.

They also located 34 magazines, 23 of which were high-capacity magazines, police said. “Twenty-three of the magazines were loaded with varying amounts of rounds,” they added.

“Also located in the vehicle were at least 22 various firearm components and hundreds of rounds of ammunition,” police said.

State police said Silvestri allegedly does not have a license to carry firearms in Massachusetts. “Information gathered in the investigation suggests Silvestri may have obtained the firearms in New Hampshire,” they said.

After he was taken to the barracks in Newbury, police said Buckley “made observations of Silvestri’s behavior that suggested impairment.”

The trooper administered several field sobriety tests to the defendant, who was then charged with operating under the influence (OUI) of drugs, police said.

At the barracks, a search of Silvestri’s backpack reportedly turned up around 42 grams of cocaine, 53 suboxone strips, 167 Xanax pills, approximately 15 grams of liquid GHB (a central nervous system depressant), and multiple other types of drugs, police alleged.

Also located in the backpack were several prescription medications, they claimed.

Silvestri was charged with eight counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, 25 counts of possession of a large capacity weapon or feeding device, multiple counts of possession of a large-capacity firearm in commission of a felony and improper storage of a large capacity firearm, and single counts of possession of a silencer and possession of a firearm while under the influence, state police said.

He was also charged with possession of Class A, B, and E narcotics, police said.