http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20140210/THISJUSTIN/702109954
Two stopped in Springfield deny drug charges By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | February 10,2014 Rutland Herald Photo by Eric Francis Thomas Arbuckle of Springfield is facing state and federal drug charges. WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Two local men stopped in a car in Springfield last week have now both been arraigned on drug charges. Paul Reynolds, 31, of Windsor, pleaded innocent Thursday in White River Junction criminal court to a felony charge of cocaine possession and was returned to jail to serve a monthlong sentence for which he had failed to show up last year. Thomas Arbuckle, 31, of Springfield, pleaded innocent the day before to a felony count of cocaine possession and to misdemeanor counts of possessing heroin and suboxone. In December, federal authorities indicted Arbuckle for conspiracy to distribute “pounds” of a controlled substance known as “bath salts” in the Springfield and Newport areas. He was initially released from federal court after he pleaded innocent to that charge. Springfield Police Officer Larry Muldoon said he spotted Reynolds driving on Valley Street on Tuesday. Knowing there was an arrest warrant because Reynolds failed to show up for a 30-day work crew, the officer said he pulled him over. Arbuckle was in the front passenger seat and a third person, who wasn’t charged, was in the back. Muldoon said a search of Reynolds found a plastic baggie containing crack rocks. While Reynolds was being handcuffed, he told Muldoon to keep a close eye on Arbuckle because he had drugs and would probably try to hide them in Reynolds’ car, the officer wrote. Police found no drugs on Arbuckle, Muldoon said, but they did find a glass drug pipe on the driver’s seat and a nylon bag, hidden behind the glove compartment, containing five baggies of heroin, 16 foil packages of suboxone, a baggie with 12 grams of powdered cocaine and a pill bottle containing another 10 grams of coke and crack rocks. Police said two more glass drug pipes were found under the front passenger seat and another one was discovered in the center console of the rear passenger seat. Muldoon said Reynolds claimed he was fixing the brakes on Arbuckle’s pickup in exchange for “shizz,” a street nickname for bath salts. Reynolds said Arbuckle could get and sell bath salts in quantity. In a federal affidavit charging that Arbuckle conspired to distribute bath salts, Trooper Shawn Loan said agents were told Arbuckle spent months shuttling “one or two times a week” between Plainfield, N.H., and Springfield with 5-gallon buckets of bath salts. One informant told investigators that he’d pays Arbuckle $350 every other day for a quarter-ounce of bath salts and $100 per bundle of heroin.
"One informant told investigators that he’d pays Arbuckle $350 every other day for a quarter-ounce of bath salts and $100 per bundle of heroin." Wow! He must be a union employee at one of the shops if he's got that kind of money to throw around! Oh, wait a minute..........No......
ReplyDeleteWell, it is unlikely that the informant was at the income level of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Which means possibly that he had to be "creative" in finding $81,900 a year to support his habit. How many socialites living off their inheritance do we have in Springfield? I didn't think so.
DeleteNOW-- if these substances were decriminalized and regulated as are tobacco and alcohol, they would be substantially cheaper, and thus we would be much less susceptible to robberies of our vehicles, homes and convenience stores. The informant would still be an addict, but would be paying maybe only $20 a day instead of $450. (No, he would not increase his intake by 1,200 percent; it would kill him, another way to resolve his addiction.)
If the informant's family were concerned about his addiction to a decriminalized substance, they would not have to fear having him go to jail if they sought intervention, unlike the situation today, where children who need counseling are prevented from getting it because a parent reasonably fears the revelation of such a condition. This makes it much harder for a child in our schools to succeed, and it's not the child's fault, but he/she pays the price.
It would be interesting to know if this informant is, as was Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a productive member of society despite all the money going up his nose and into his veins. About 85% of alcoholics are, even though many of that 85% also break the law due to their alcoholism.
It's time we grow up and think like adults. Or shall we just let the tobacco companies do our thinking for us?
Sorry chuck but your logic is once again skewed. Even at $15 a bag addicts would continue to steal and rob since most hardcore addicts don't have jobs. Unless you're suggesting we continue to subsidize their purchases with government entitlement funds. Also, it's not the tobacco companies selling these drugs to our young townfolk.
DeleteThey would continue to rob and steal the way alcoholics continue to rob and steal-- and I don't know of any alcoholics who have a $400 a day habit. Nor does any level of government subsidize alcoholism.
DeleteYou eliminate the criminality and the obscene profits leave. You have, as with both alcohol and tobacco, regulated industries which have to deliver a product which meets government standards for ingestibility, which is marketed without gunfire, double-crosses and horrifically expensive law enforcement task forces, which is priced reasonably to avoid loss of trade at the retail level, which is as much of a gateway drug as both alcohol and tobacco are, and abuse of which is dealt with the same way that abuse of alcohol and tobacco are-- intervention in degrees of increasing severity.
I can't even respond Chuck, your comment is so far out in left field with no logical argument that it deserves no response.
DeleteSure, put everything under government regulations to assist in behavior modification...nice. I remember seeing a film about that back when I was in school, it was hard to understand though since it was grainy black and white and with German subtitles.
DeleteLOL JAKE!!!! I think pretty much the same thing when I read his comments.
DeleteIt seems some people need to read up about what happened while alcohol was illegal during Prohibition. And some people might want to read up about crime rates in Amsterdam, where certain substances have been decriminalized, and compare them with crime rates here. Thanks for not posting under "anonymous," by the way. I appreciate the forthrightness.
DeleteAlcohol and Heroin are two different animals chuck. Heroin can be addictive on the first try, I've yet to read a study where alcohol has that immediate affect on the addiction mechanism of the brain. Comparing Amsterdam's legal and criminal system to the US is like comparing Apples to String-beans. Our country was an entirely different (Judicial and Government wise) world back during prohibition so it's argument with heroin in today's environment is irrelevant.
DeleteJAKE FOR THE WIN!! Game, set, match.
DeleteSorry, Jake, but alcohol can be addictive on the first try, too-- and I've dealt in the field. You are also wrong about Prohibition-- the anti-alcohol crusade stared long before the reefer madness PR campaign, but both of them came to fruition in the same decade-- 1915-1925.
DeletePeople are people, whether they're in Springfield or Amsterdam, and they react in much the same ways to both the lure of imagined riches and the criminal consequences of an addiction. But I can't change the mind of someone whose paycheck depends on his mind not changing.
Be that as it may, what do you have for a solution for this situation addressed by a solution that isn't working? And is it going to cost less than what we spend now? Remember, to keep doing the same thing and expect the results to be different is Einstein's definition of insanity.
Chuck, I just want to say that I appreciate you putting your thoughts out there. I have been telling everyone that I think we (being the US) should be more like Europe, in decriminalizing and regulating the "illegal drugs"....It has made a huge difference in Europe and I would hope that it would help here in the US. I believe that the US is IGNORANT and not willing to fight for Change (the Right way). It's sad that society would rather see people fail and go around slandering them...rather than try to fix the problem! I pray for our Government everyday! I hope that there is Change to come, I hope and Pray for our Children's Future!!
DeleteThese two clowns have been at it for years, well know to the criminal justice system. Both have priors to include drugs and assaultive behaviors. Neither are "from" Springfield, but Springfield is where they choose to make their way. Police are doing a good job in tracking down these dirt bags, the issue is the courts are not holding people accountable. Get them off the street and save the next generation from these idiots. What did I count 5-6 crack pipes in that car? Magic Mushroom is really making a killing from all these sad cases. They should be held accountable too in some regard for contributing to this down grade in society.
ReplyDeleteset an example.....that we do not want our community to turn into Holyoke. We are INVESTED in this town, it is pretty hard to up and move. I'm glad my home is on wheels.
ReplyDeleteTEN year mandatory sentence for trafficking/dealing. Second offense; life imprisonment.
ReplyDeleteOr the Asian way. One strike any you are simply eliminated.
DeleteTheir cities where probably like Springfield at one time and the only way finally control it was to put the severest law into effect.
And it works !!
I like immediate death for drug trafficking, like in many countries.
DeleteHe was picked up in CT last July with half a pound of heroin. Not sure why he is not in jail. Use the search feature on this site and type in Arbuckle, scroll down to Monday, July 15 and you can read about that "bust" or is it an "unbust" ...I don't get it ....1/2 lb is alot..
ReplyDeleteOk.. I just have to chime in here. I've been lurking on this blog since 2011 but never felt a need to post until now. I keep seeing various posts accross this site by a user tag called "chuck gregory". Is this a real person or just an individual (or group of individuals) who troll the blog with illogical comments trying to flame arguments? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteHe's as real as you are... and then some.
DeleteWould it have been appropriate to mention my evil twin?
DeleteAnd, 10:02, you'll have to specify just how an argument is illogical. The erudite readers of this blog look down upon mere poo-flinging.