BUFFALO TWP — A state police investigation into a suspected drug business netted them a grandma with 40 pounds of marijuana and $350,000 in currency, authorities said.

Police suspect the money was the proceeds of the marijuana business the gray-haired, 61-year-old Candace D. Kelly was running out of her home in the 400 block of Kepple Road.

But that’s not all that drug investigators reportedly turned up at Kelly’s house — just down the road from the Buffalo Township Tax Office. They also allegedly seized pounds of psychedelic mushrooms and hashish.

Kelly, who faces felony and misdemeanor drug charges, is in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.

The state police Western Pennsylvania Drug Interdiction Unit arrested her last week following an investigation into her at-home enterprise.

Kelly’s family, however, disputes the allegations. During an interview with the Butler Eagle on Monday, they also accused police of using heavy-handed tactics to arrest her.

“What they’re saying are lies,” said one of Kelly’s five grandchildren. “She’s just a nice old lady.”

Roger Kelly at times laughed when he read the criminal complaint against his wife of 35 years.

“It’s nonsense,” he said.

Trooper Jeff Brautigam laid out a portion of the police case in charging documents. He said when he and other officers went to the defendant’s house Sept. 26, he could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside.

“When the defendant opened the front screen door to speak with me,” Brautigam said, “the odor of marijuana became overwhelming.”

Family members, however, claimed Kelly did not open the door.

“The trooper opened the door,” Mickala said. “He popped his head in and said, ‘I can smell the marijuana all the way from the road.’”

Also in the house was the suspect’s 17-year-old granddaughter. Roger Kelly was outside and unaware that police were there.

He said he and his wife, natives of West Virginia, rent the modest home that sits on a little more than 2 acres. The couple has lived there for about 12 years.

State police and members of the state Attorney General’s Drug Task Force went to the Kelly home as part of their investigation. Most of the officers came dressed in plain clothes.

Brautigam, in documents, said he identified himself and showed the defendant his badge.

The family, however, maintains none of the officers identified himself by name or badge. They said police also came without a search warrant.

But in the criminal complaint, police noted they did not need a warrant because Kelly gave permission to officers to search the home. She also signed a consent form, documents said.

“They wouldn’t let her get her reading glasses,” Roger Kelly said. “How could she have known what she was signing?”

Neither Brautigam nor New Kensington Detective Sgt. Dino DiGiacobbe, a member of the AG’s task force, the lead investigators, returned telephone calls Monday.

During the police search, documents said, officers found 40 pounds of marijuana, 4 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms and 2 pounds of hashish.

Additionally, police turned up numerous marijuana pipes, scales and drug packaging materials. They also seized more than $350,000 in currency.

Roger Kelly said the search lasted “four or five hours” He said he and other family members were kept away and in the dark.

“They wouldn’t tell us nothing when they got here,” he said. “When they left, they told us nothing and they gave us no paperwork of what they took.”

Brautigam said he later interviewed Kelly, who waived her right to have an attorney present.

“The defendant admitted she purchases large amounts of marijuana,” the trooper said, “and resells the marijuana to various people.”

During her Sept. 26 arraignment, Kelly told District Judge Lewis Stoughton that she is retired and has a prior drug arrest. That arrest in Allegheny County goes back to the 1990s, court records showed.

Roger Kelly said his wife’s most recent work was operating a home cooking business.

“She made organic foods for people,” he said.

Meanwhile, he declined to discuss what police allegedly found during last week’s search. He also would not comment about their claims she was a not-so-small marijuana dealer.

Roger Kelly said he was close to hiring a Pittsburgh attorney to represent his wife at her preliminary hearing that is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday before District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.