thedailystar.com | ONEONTA -- "Loose Change" filmmaker Korey H. Rowe, 27, of Oneonta, was one of two people arrested in Oneonta on Thursday and charged with sale of heroin, Oneonta police said.

Rowe and Daniel Marte Jr., 19, of the Bronx, were arrested after the two allegedly sold seven packets of heroin in the city to an undercover police officer, police said.

Both men were charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, police said. Marte was also charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said. Both charges are Class B felonies punishable by up to nine years in prison, police said.

Rowe, an Army veteran, was a producer of the 2006 film "Loose Change," a documentary questioning the official explanation of the events on 9/11. The film was written and directed by Dylan Avery, who at the time lived in Oneonta.

The arrests were made at about 4:50 p.m. on Interstate 88 near westbound Exit 13, with the assistance of Otsego deputies, police said.

Seized during the investigation was $6,400 in cash and an additional 27 packets of heroin found in Marte's possession, police said.

Rowe and Marte were arraigned Friday in Oneonta City Court and sent to the Otsego County jail, police said.

Rowe was released on $10,000 cash, or $20,000 bond bail, and Marte was still held on $25,000 cash bail, or $50,000 bond, a jail officer said Friday evening.

The two are entitled to a felony hearing unless they waive their rights, but a future court date was unknown Friday evening, Oneonta police Lt. Dennis Nayor said.

In 2007, Rowe, then a soldier in the 187th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, was arrested on a charge of desertion. He returned to his unit not long after his arrest. His father, Tom Rowe, said his son was honorably discharged.