A 40-year-old Pelham man was arrested for holding a drinking party that minors attended at his home after he advertised the gathering on MySpace.com.

Marco Rivera of 53 Simpson Mill Road posted the party on the social networking site, charging $5 a person for admission.

A 911 call came into the dispatch center, but it was disconnected.

Upon returning the call, according to a police statement, the caller told police the call was accidental and hung up when asked for his location. Police headed out to the area to check out the call.

When Pelham police responded to the home on Sunday, April 20, at 12:30 a.m., they found about 100 people, including many under the age of 21, drinking in the basement.

Salem and Windham police were called to the scene to handle the crowd and check on the conditions of the partygoers.

According to police, 25 minors from Nashua, Hampton and several towns in Massachusetts attended the party, all of whom were released to parents or other adults.

One of them, a 14-yearold girl, had been listed as a runaway from Lowell, Mass., according to police Lt. Gary Fisher.

No one was taken to the hospital, and no one was arrested except for Rivera.

Fisher said the police have never had any real trouble with Rivera, but that officers responded to his home about a week prior to this incident for a small gathering involving alcohol.

“It was nothing like this,” Fisher said.

Police did not find any drugs in the home, Fisher said, and Rivera was cooperative during the arrest.

“There were no problems. He was taken in without incident,” Fisher said.

Rivera will appear in Salem District Court on Monday, May 5, to be arraigned.

Charged with facilitating an underage alcohol house party, Rivera could face a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

“The catcher on this one is that he advertised it on MySpace and charged an admission fee, so that’s why we’re going forward with the charges,” Fisher said.

Fisher added he’s never encountered a case like this one involving social networking sites, but that the department recognizes the heavy use such sites get from high school students in particular.

“They’re using MySpace for everything under the sun nowadays,” Fisher said. “We’re definitely going to keep an eye on this guy’s MySpace account.”