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Photo by Eric Francis Laura Ritchie of Springfield, left, next to her attorney Robert Lees, waived extradition to New Hampshire, where she faces drug charges.
Published December 31, 2015 in the Rutland Herald
Springfield woman faces NH drug charges
By ERIC FRANCIS
CORRESPONDENT
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — U.S. marshals and local police officers surrounded a home on Paddock Road in Springfield on Monday and arrested a woman wanted for allegedly dealing drugs two years ago in New Hampshire.
Laura Ritchie, 25, appeared in court Tuesday in White River Junction, where she cried throughout her hearing and waived her right to challenge extradition to New Hampshire. There, she faces two indictments charging that she sold $140 worth of heroin within school zones on two occasions.
Ritchie, who has no prior criminal record, could face up to 15 years in prison if she is convicted.
New Hampshire investigators allege Ritchie sold heroin to a person who was cooperating with the New Hampshire Drug Task Force.
Police said those sales in November 2013 took place within 1,000 feet of Stevens High School and the New England Classical Academy in Claremont, N.H.
The formal indictment was not issued until August 2014. After efforts to find her at her last known address in Springfield proved unsuccessful, a nationwide warrant for her arrest was issued in September 2014.
On Tuesday, Judge Nancy Corsones asked if Ritchie had any questions about the proceedings. Ritchie said, “I just want to hug my mom,” gesturing to her wheelchair-bound mother behind her in the courtroom.
Deputy sheriffs, citing court security, refused to let her do so. Ritchie was led to a holding cell to await a police cruiser that would take her to New Hampshire.
