Drug raid makes busy court day

A wave of defendants from drug raids in Springfield and Ludlow swamped the courthouse in downtown White River Junction on Wednesday.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20130620/NEWS02/706209930

Published June 20, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Drug raid makes busy court day By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A wave of defendants from drug raids in Springfield and Ludlow swamped the courthouse in downtown White River Junction on Wednesday. In all, 26 of the 36 people who were being sought as part of Operation Precision Valley were arraigned there during a marathon six-hour session that lasted past the court’s usual closing hour. Many of the defendants were familiar faces in the courthouse. On the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, many of those released on conditions gathered in impromptu little knots as they tried to figure out which of their acquaintances had been picked up, who was going directly to jail, and how they were going to get home. Many of them had been ushered out of the courthouse in their socks with little more than their arraignment papers. Prosecutors said some of the key figures the drug task force had been seeking, the so-called “Jersey Boys” who allegedly made their way up to Vermont using connections with street gangs in New Jersey, are already in jail — three in Vermont, one in New Hampshire, and one in Massachusetts — and they will be brought into court to face a slate of new drug-related charges in the weeks ahead. Three more “Jersey Boys” suspects are believed to be still at large in New Jersey and warrants for their arrests are being issued, prosecutors said. Another suspect had been accounted for but had just come out of surgery at a local hospital so that person was issued a citation to come to court at a future date. State’s Attorney Michael Kainen offered a message to out-of-state drug dealers: “We’re going to try and get you!” “This has been brewing for some time since I came in,” the recently appointed Kainen said of the raids. “We are certainly taking the sale of drugs and hard drugs more seriously. I supported the decriminalization of marijuana but that doesn’t mean I have a tolerance for the dealing of hard drugs.” He said Springfield has a problem with out-of-state dealers doing business in town. “A lot of people who are here today are working for them,” he said.