A man accused of masterminding a kidnapping-for-drug-debt plot in Bennington is being held without bail, joining a co-defendant in the case.
The alleged mastermind, Jason Simpson, of Springfield, Massachusetts, is facing multiple felony charges: human trafficking for labor servitude, kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping for bodily injury or fear and aggravated assault.
All his charges, except for aggravated assault, are punishable by up to life in prison, court records indicate.
Simpson, 26, pleaded not guilty in Bennington Superior criminal court on Oct. 17, about a month after town police sought a warrant for his arrest in the kidnapping case.
Investigators said he planned the kidnapping of a Bennington woman, Stevie Main, sometime on Sept. 12 to ensure her boyfriend paid up $1,500 in drug money Simpson was trying to collect.
Two other people — Maurice Edwards and Jacquelyn Valdez — were earlier charged with forcibly taking the woman from Bennington to Springfield, Massachusetts.
Simpson is also accused of forcing Main’s boyfriend, Bryan Kenyon, to sell drugs. According to a police statement of probable cause for Simpson’s charges, Kenyon said that for about two weeks leading up to his girlfriend’s kidnapping, he’d been selling crack cocaine and fentanyl in Bennington “against his will” for Simpson and another man identified only as “Bigs.”
Kenyon reportedly also said Simpson and Bigs assaulted him after he couldn’t pay them some drug money he owed, then threatened to kill him and his girlfriend. He also alleged that they drugged him before taking him to Springfield for a while, the document states.
In the early morning of Sept. 13, once Kenyon had the money for Simpson, a vehicle delivered his girlfriend to a predetermined location in Bennington, police said.
Edwards and Valdez were in the vehicle with Main, along with a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber and a companion, investigators said. The defendants reportedly ran to a nearby apartment that they didn’t have permission to enter, where police later found them.
After they were arrested, Bennington police said officers seized multiple items from the apartment, including fentanyl and cocaine.
The police affidavit shows that Edwards, Valdez and Main all said that Simpson set up the kidnapping.
Simpson is being held without bail at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield while waiting for a hearing that would assess whether he should remain locked up while awaiting trial.
Edwards also remained held without bail at Southern State Correctional, according to state Department of Corrections records as of Wednesday afternoon. Valdez is still detained at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility on $7,500 bail.
The Bennington Police Department earlier said this is the first criminal case in town where a person was held against their will due to a drug debt. Town police said they are continuing to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, Kenyon and Main were arrested earlier this month on drug charges from an incident in August, police said.