A Hartford, Connecticut, man is facing federal drug charges following a raid by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies at a residence where he was staying in Randolph.
Shiquan Mangual appeared Thursday afternoon via video from a jail cell in St. Albans for an initial hearing. He was arrested a day earlier on a charge of possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute.
Because the hearing was not an arraignment, Mangual did not need to enter a plea to the charge.
Mangual’s arrest stems from a raid early Wednesday morning at a residence in Randolph Center, according to an affidavit filed in court by Wade Cochran, a task force officer with the FBI based in Burlington.
A person, described only as “Occupant 1” in the affidavit, came to the door when agents announced they were there and ordered anyone inside to get out of the residence, the affidavit stated. That person was not charged in connection with the case, according to the filing.
Moments later, Mangual came out a back door of the residence, where he ran into FBI agents, the affidavit stated.
A third person believed to have been in the residence at the time of the raid, described as “Co-Conspirator 1” in the affidavit, was not taken into custody and it’s not clear if that person got away.
Sarah Ruane, a spokesperson for the FBI’s regional office in Albany, New York, stated in an email response to questions about the raid that all she could say is that it was “court-authorized activity.”
She referred additional questions to court filings in the case that did not address the status of “Co-Conspirator 1.”
The affidavit stated only that Mangual had been charged in connection with the raid.
In the residence, according to the filing, agents seized a loaded .45-caliber Beretta firearm, 420 dose bags of heroin inside a wastebasket, six plastic bags containing powdered cocaine, one ounce each, and one plastic bag with one ounce of crack cocaine inside.
In a separate room, the affidavit stated, agents seized 543 grams, including packaging, of powder cocaine, 127 grams, including packaging, of crack cocaine, and 15 grams of “bulk” heroin and 250 individual “glassine” bags of heroin.
An “AK-style rifle” and a “pistol-grip” shotgun were seized from a locked safe in the residence, according to a court filing.
The person described as Occupant 1, the affidavit stated, told authorities that Mangual and Co-Conspirator 1 arrived at the residence about a week ago and had been selling cocaine and opiates from the home.
Mangual, at one point, told authorities he didn’t have anything to do with seized drugs or the firearms, according to the affidavit, adding that he was visiting a cousin from Barre before saying he came to Randolph to visit the person identified as Occupant 1.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher, the prosecutor in the case, argued during the court hearing Thursday that Mangual should remain in jail while awaiting trial.
Drescher cited the seriousness of the offense, and indications Mangual may have been trying to flee when he ran out the back door of the residence, but found FBI agents waiting for him.
In addition, the prosecutor said, a warrant had been issued for Mangual’s arrest in connection with a shooting within the past two months in Connecticut.
“He has no apparent ties to this district other than his presence in the Randolph residence from which he emerged yesterday morning,” Drescher wrote in a request that Mangual be detained.
Steven Barth, an assistant federal public defender, argued that Mangual should be released from custody, and could stay with his mother in Manchester, Connecticut. Barth said Mangual is presumed innocent of the drug charge and hasn’t even appeared in court in connection with the shooting raised by the prosecutor.
Also, Barth said, Mangual went out the back door of the residence when FBI agents ordered everyone inside to get out. The back door was the nearest exit, the defense attorney said.
Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle, after hearing arguments from both sides, agreed that Mangual should stay in custody.
As the hearing came to a close, Michael Donoghue, a reporter covering the case for The Times Argus and Rutland Herald, asked the judge to consider a petition he had submitted, seeking any records sealed in the case, including a copy of the search warrant.
Doyle said he wasn’t aware of the filing until shortly before the hearing and wouldn’t be taking it up on Thursday.
