Raid on apartment results in trafficking charges

Eddie Cruz, 54, of Springfield, pleaded innocent on Friday afternoon to felony heroin trafficking and to two accompanying misdemeanor counts of crack cocaine and narcotics possession before he was returned to the Springfield jail for lack of $25,000 bail.

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Published April 5, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Raid on apartment results in trafficking charges By ERIC FRANCIS WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Eddie Cruz, 54, of Springfield, pleaded innocent on Friday afternoon to felony heroin trafficking and to two accompanying misdemeanor counts of crack cocaine and narcotics possession before he was returned to the Springfield jail for lack of $25,000 bail. Detective Patrick Call wrote in an affidavit that when Cruz was arrested, he confessed to police that for the past year he’d been selling crack to approximately 10 to 15 customers in Springfield and heroin to around 10 people, making a couple of trips to southern Vermont each week to meet a “runner” from Massachusetts or Connecticut with more. Call wrote that when Cruz was interviewed, he explained “he does not work and receives Social Security Disability benefits … and was selling drugs to make money to pay bills.” “Cruz estimated that on average he would purchase 60 pieces of crack cocaine and five ‘bricks’ (250 bags) of heroin at a time,” Call wrote, adding that Cruz said he had just made a purchasing trip on the morning of the raid and estimated he’d already that day sold 20 half-gram pieces of crack cocaine and five bundles (of 10 bags each) of heroin” before police came knocking on his door. Springfield police officers entered the building at the corner of Main and Valley streets late Thursday afternoon with a search warrant and ordered Cruz and Grace Bensley, 49, to their knees before handcuffing them without incident, Detective Anthony Moriglioni wrote in a separate affidavit filed with the court. A quick search of Cruz’s pockets turned up a half-gram of crack, a packed marijuana pipe and nearly $1,500 in cash, Moriglioni wrote. Cruz told police, according to the affidavit, where they could find one empty .22 caliber handgun on a shelf, and officers found two other handguns as well, a Colt .357 and a .38 special, both of which police said were fully loaded. Police also searched a purse belonging to Maria Perez, 26, and found empty heroin bags, a pair of ‘snort straws’ and a pill, which was seized, Moriglioni wrote. Cruz’s son, Justin Gomez, 19, who was not charged, cooperated with the officers and opened a safe in the apartment, which turned out to contain 637 bags of heroin, cash and four cellphones. Police also found another $1,190 stuffed into a sock under a mattress, along with numerous drug paraphernalia items around the apartment including, police said, marijuana water pipes, rubber bands, pill bottles, straws and hundreds of empty wax folds along with eight packages of the drug Suboxone. Police reported seizing several other cellphones, digital cameras and laptop computers found in the apartment. The detectives said they intended to apply for search warrants for those items as well. In convicted on all the charges against him, Cruz faces the possibility of 32 years in prison. http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20160405/NEWS01/160409764 http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160405/NEWS01/160409764