Woman convicted in Precision Valley sweep spends last weekend with kids

A Springfield woman tearfully thanked a judge this week for the chance to spend a last weekend at home with her two young daughters before heading to jail for at least the next two years.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20131214/NEWS02/712149943

Published December 14, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Woman convicted in Precision Valley sweep spends last weekend with kids By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield woman tearfully thanked a judge this week for the chance to spend a last weekend at home with her two young daughters before heading to jail for at least the next two years. Rachel Quirion, 29, one of 36 suspected drug dealers arrested in June as part of the “Operation Precision Valley” drug sweep, pleaded guilty to felony counts relating to heroin and crack cocaine sales. She was ordered Thursday to begin serving a sentence of two to four years next week at the women’s prison in Chittenden County. Quirion asked for the delayed sentence because she only got to see her children every other weekend and wanted to “get her affairs in order” before heading to jail, public defender Sandra Nelson told Judge Karen Carroll. “The (state’s) offer is as good as it’s going to get,” Nelson said. “She needs to do the time and get on with treatment.” Assistant Attorney General Bob Menzel told the court that Quirion had been living with her mother, Candace Patterson, was also one of those arrested during the sweep. Police said Patterson’s house on Mount Vernon Street in Springfield was one of the epicenters of “the Jersey Boys” drug gang activity in that town. Menzel said that after Quirion was arrested she admitted she gave gang members rides to New Jersey and back as she helped them transport drugs to Springfield for sale. Quirion wiped away tears as she thanked Carroll for allowing her to return home for the weekend in exchange for a promise to report to jail next Wednesday morning. “I will serve the time I got,” Quirion said. Carroll also sentenced another of the “Operation Precision Valley” suspects Thursday afternoon. Ashley Blanchard, 20, had already reached a plea deal in May for selling heroin and oxycodone to police informants in 2012 from her former residence in Chester. Nelson, who also represented Blanchard, told the court the entire slate of criminal charges Blanchard racked up in the past year was “related to drugs.” Since then Blanchard has successfully completed a two-week stay at the Serenity House treatment program, moved into a halfway house and obtained a full-time job as a housekeeper, Nelson said. “She’s been clean for four months and she’s made pretty significant strides in getting the drugs under control,” Nelson said. Carroll accepted the plea agreement calling for a zero-to-five-year sentence, all suspended except for 180 hours of community service. The judge said she did not want to derail Blanchard’s efforts to get her life back together.