Police: Rutland drug sweep highlights in-state roots of crisis

[R]UTLAND — The Vermont Drug Task Force arrested 10 people last week it describes as midlevel dealers of crack cocaine and heroin in Rutland County as part of a renewed focus on distribution networks within the state.

The defendants range in age from 23 to 55, and two had been arrested on accusations of heroin sales in the past. All face at least one felony charge of selling heroin or crack cocaine. A similar operation was carried out in Bennington County this week.

Capt. John Merrigan, commander of special investigations with the Vermont State Police, said the quantity of opiates flooding into the state every year is overwhelming and unprecedented. “The amount of heroin that’s available in Vermont is staggering,” he said. “There’s more here today than there was six months ago, and there’s going to be more in six months than there is today.”

However, Merrigan said there’s a perception in Vermont that the opiate crisis is a product of drug dealers bringing in heroin from out of state. He said the real problem lies within.

“We’re a consumer state,” said Merrigan. “So Vermonters have placed the blame on that out of state or that large dealer responsible for bringing it in. That’s not the story. We are the story.”

Merrigan said the operations in Bennington and Rutland counties were in fact relatively small and that the task force would continue to focus on second-tier distributors, who are drug users who sell to make a living. “They’re not holding down a job,” said Merrigan. “Their job is to sell heroin.”

Merrigan said law enforcement action was not the only solution and that the state should continue to emphasize treatment and prevention. He said the police are typically good at dealing with criminal issues, not solving social problems. The opiate crisis, he said, is a social problem.

In the past Merrigan has worked with Capt. Scott Tucker, executive director of Project Vision, Rutland’s community policing initiative that is widely credited with driving down drug-related crime in the city. The program has been cited by Gov. Phil Scott and has received nationwide attention as a model for addressing the opiate scourge.

Merrigan said Project Vision has had some real successes in bringing together law enforcement, social service organizations and the medical community. However, he said more needs to be done to open up lines of communication between the various entities working on the problem.

Rutland, he said, is no worse off than any other part of the state. “You can’t go to a community that’s not affected by this in Vermont. Not anymore,” he said.

In the Rutland sweep police arrested the following people, all from Rutland except as noted:

Sandra Shappy, 55, is accused of one count of sale of crack cocaine. She is to be arraigned March 27.

Jeffrey Haynes, 34, is accused of one count of sale of heroin. He is to be arraigned March 27.

Kristi Bertrand, 23, is accused of one count of sale of heroin. Her arraignment is set for Feb. 27.

Jean Gaboriau, 49, faces one count of sale of heroin. He is to be arraigned Feb. 27.

Amanda Hathaway, 29, is accused of two counts of sale of heroin. She is to be arraigned March 20.

Gina Morrill, 50, faces two counts of sale of heroin. Her arraignment is set for Feb. 27.

Janelle Carter, 31, of Castleton, is accused of three counts of sale of heroin. She is to be arraigned March 27.

Christopher Nadeau, 27, faces three counts of sale of heroin, plus violating the conditions of his release. His arraignment date is March 27.

Robert Grady, 35, is accused of one count each of sale of heroin and sale of crack cocaine, plus violating the conditions of his release. He is to be arraigned March 27.

George Higgins, 32, faces two counts of selling crack cocaine. His arraignment date is March 27.