Statewide sweep nets alleged drug dealers

Police arrested 12 people from St. Albans to Bennington on Wednesday including 3 from Springfield in a statewide sweep called "Operation Byrne Blitz," alleging the suspects were low-level drug dealers.

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http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/BT/20080307/NEWS01/803070381/0/FRONTPAGE Published March 7, 2008 in the Times Argus Statewide sweep nets alleged drug dealers Several hail from central Vermont By Daphne Larkin Times Argus http://vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/BT/20080307/NEWS01/803070381/0/FRONTPAGE Police arrested 12 people from St. Albans to Bennington on Wednesday in a statewide sweep called "Operation Byrne Blitz," alleging the suspects were low-level drug dealers. In addition, law enforcement announced the arrests of seven alleged higher-level drug dealers that occurred over the past month, six of whom were arrested in Washington County and one who was arrested in Addison County. Seized in various stings, according to police, were more than five pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $95,570, more than 28 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of over $79,000, nine rifles, one handgun, 280 boxes of ammunition, bags of hallucinogenic mushrooms and a few pills. That evidence covered tables at a press conference Thursday to announce the sweep at the Department of Public Safety in Waterbury. "Operation Byrne Blitz" is a national event in which participating states make drug arrests on the same day. The name "Byrne" refers to the federal funding designated to drug enforcement, which in Vermont makes up the bulk of funding for the state's Drug Task Force. The funding for the federal Byrne grant has been cut by 60 percent in the next fiscal year's budget, and those cuts will go into effect beginning Oct. 1, officials announced Thursday. The drug sweep was designed as a show of force to drug dealers, as an example to the community and the federal government of the task force's work,, according to Task Force Commander Capt. Thomas Nelson of the Vermont State Police. "This is not all the work we do, just a major amount of the work that has taken place in a short period of time," Nelson said. Attorney General William Sorrell, who recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. where he met with the attorney general, "drug czar" John Walters and President Bush to convey concern at the diminished funding, called the table covered in drugs and weapons "sobering evidence of what law enforcement is facing today." Police said they arrested Paul R. Bradbury, 48, of Plainfield, after they concluded an investigation that began at the end of January. Police said Bradbury sold cocaine four times to people cooperating with police, and they arrested Bradbury after he sold police 1 3/4 ounces of cocaine. "A subsequent search of Bradbury's residence discovered two ounces of cocaine pre-packaged for distribution and seven pounds of marijuana," police said in a statement. Police also arrested 43-year-old Ronald Saldi, of Williamstown, after he allegedly delivered 15 ounces of cocaine to an individual cooperating with police during an investigation that began at the end of January. Saldi owns A&S Collections Services in Williamstown. "The drugs were seized and the investigation showed that the man, Ronald L. Saldi, had been selling cocaine at that level in the central Vermont area prior to his arrest," police said in a statement. Police also searched Saldi's residence and seized two ounces of cocaine, 22 pounds of marijuana, nine long rifles, one handgun and 280 boxes of ammunition. Bradbury and Saldi are being prosecuted by federal authorities, police said. An investigation during February into cocaine distribution in the Burlington, Barre and Montpelier areas led to the arrest of Paul Harvey, 47, of Williamstown, his sister-in-law, Linne Harvey, 48, of Barre, Jean P. Verdiner, 30, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Shoubert Beauchamps, 28, of Concord, N.H. The arrest of the four, which took place at the Hilltop Inn in Berlin on Feb. 28 and involved the sale of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine, made headlines last week. The fourth major drug bust was made on Feb. 29 when police arrested Thomas "TJ" Blaise, of Addison, in his driveway as he allegedly sold eight ounces of cocaine to an undercover Drug Task Force officer. Police said Blaise, who had been previously convicted of drug crimes, had been ordered to serve jail time on weekends and that he "was caught selling drugs during weekdays while free from jail." On Wednesday, law enforcement executed a coordinated effort by having local police and sheriff's departments arrest suspects developed by the Drug Task Force. Task Force members had identified 14 suspects, and by Thursday afternoon 12 of those suspects had been arrested, processed at local state police barracks, cited to appear in district court and released. On Wednesday, police arrested six people in St. Albans, including David Cameron, 42, cited for sale of marijuana; Steven Gaboury, 39, cited for sale of cocaine; Dana Guerrero, 33, cited for sale of cocaine; Jose Guerrero, 28, cited for sale of cocaine; Barbara Barratt, 37, cited for sale of marijuana and Darby Cobb, 33, cited for sale of cocaine. They are still looking for Donna Gagnon, 46, of St. Albans, for aiding in the sale of marijuana. In Johnson and Eden Mills, police arrested Anthony Tuthill, 32, for sale of narcotics and 18-year-old Jason Prosser for sale of marijuana. Dennis Patterson, 40, of Leicester, is wanted for sale of cocaine. Police made three arrests of Springfield residents, including Robin Liverte for four counts of sale of crack cocaine; Johnathan Goodrich, 22, for sale of cocaine and Jean Labonte, 38, for sale of narcotics. Police also arrested a Bennington woman around 2 p.m. She was not identified. The announcement of the drug busts was made Thursday afternoon where a group of high-ranking law enforcement officials gathered behind the vast table of seized evidence. Present were Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Tremblay; Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Division Commander Major Thomas L'Esperance; Nelson; U.S. District Attorney Thomas Anderson; Sorrell and Criminal Division Chief Cindy Maguire of the Vermont Attorney General's office . The Byrne grant has been subsidized this year by funding secured by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., which will sustain Drug Task Force functions for the next 18 months, officials said. Nelson said that although these drug busts did not happen in Rutland, which has recently suffered what officials say is drug-motivated violence, law enforcement is aware of the city's problems and they are not being ignored. The announcement of the drug busts came on the same day that a U.S. government state-by-state study of substance abuse and mental health issues ranked Vermont No. 1 per capita for marijuana use, fourth for cocaine use and in the top five states for all other illicit drugs other than marijuana. According to Sorrell, when he was in D.C., Walters said the primary funding for the Mexican drug cartel comes from the marijuana trade, which yields upwards of $8 to $11 billion in profits for them annually. U.S. District Attorney Anderson said "in any given year" the state seizes $2 million in cash heading up to Canada to purchase marijuana. http://vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/BT/20080307/NEWS01/803070381/0/FRONTPAGE