Cousin of Springfield shooter denies drug dealing

A cousin of Terrick Craft who is currently serving eight to 15 years in prison for attempted murder stemming from the July 2012 shooting has pleaded innocent Monday to felony counts of possession and attempted sale of heroin.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150623/NEWS02/706239926

Cousin of Springfield shooter denies drug dealing By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | June 23,2015 Email Article Print Article ERIC FRANCIS PHOTO Joel Cruz, 22, of Union City, N.J., was arrested for allegedly providing a false name to police during their drug investigation Sunday evening. WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The sight of passengers in a car frantically pouring water over an unresponsive woman early Sunday evening in the parking lot of a White River Junction fast food restaurant prompted a police investigation that led to a drug arrest. Lamar Carter, 24, of Brattleboro pleaded innocent to felony counts of possession and attempted sale of heroin on Monday afternoon before he was returned to the Springfield jail for lack of $20,000 bail. Carter is the cousin of Terrick Craft of Springfield, who is currently serving eight to 15 years in prison for attempted murder stemming from the July 2012 shooting that took place in Springfield’s main downtown intersection. Police said this week that Carter has several “Jersey Boys” and “Bloods” gang affiliation tattoos, including the large numbers “802” written across the front of his neck — an apparent reference to Vermont’s telephone area code. Hartford Police Officer Thomas Howell wrote in his affidavit that he was among several officers who responded to the McDonalds parking lot after patrons saw several people attempting to revive Claire Marden, 22, of St. Johnsbury by splashing her with water. Howell said that Marden eventually admitted to police that she had “used methamphetamine that morning and was overheating.” Howell said that while he patting Carter down as a precaution, he noticed there was a large roll of cash in one of Carter’s baggy pants pockets, as well as a bag containing 13 grams of marijuana and 46 baggies of heroin stamped with the street names “Brick House” and “Miami Heat.” Carter told the police he was a college student who was busy cleaning out his dorm room in Lyndonville, but Howell wrote that that story did not seem to add up. Officers pressed Carter for details because “The Jersey Boy’s gang is known to use the I-89 corridor, running through White River Junction, to transport drugs to the northern half of the state.” Another passenger in the car, Joel Cruz, 22, of Union City, N.J., also was arrested on a charge of providing false information to a police after officers said he initially gave them a fictitious name. During the men’s appearance in court on Monday afternoon, Cruz’s public defender described him as a frequent visitor to the Brattleboro area who is hoping to move to Vermont soon. Carter was described as running his own “American Bully” miniature bulldog breeding operation. Hartford Police Detective Chris Aher wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that during Sunday evening’s drug bust, he counted out the amount of money that Carter had in his pocket and determined that it was $4,400. Aher said that when he was being questioned about the heroin, Carter allegedly explained to police, “I saw an opportunity to make some money. I went up to (Lyndonville) to make a deal with my stuff but I didn’t like it and the deal went bad, so we left.”