Bank heist suspect denies drug charge

A suspect in a pair of Springfield bank robberies returned to court this week after guards at the Springfield prison said they found drugs hidden in his sneakers and in his body.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150501/THISJUSTIN/705019951

Bank heist suspect denies drug charge By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | May 01,2015 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A suspect in a pair of Springfield bank robberies returned to court this week after guards at the Springfield prison said they found drugs hidden in his sneakers and in his body. Matthew Martin, 30, of Weathersfield, pleaded innocent to narcotics possession Tuesday in White River Junction criminal court. He was returned to prison, where he has been held since his arrest for violating release conditions in early March. Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Steven Otis wrote in his report that the drugs were discovered March 13 after prison guards were told Martin was concealing a significant amount of buprenorphine. Otis said after guards found an orange bundle of sublingual buprenorphine strips wrapped in cellophane in each of Martin’s blue-and-gray Reebok sneakers. A short time later, Martin voluntarily turned over a “slug” he had hidden in his body that contained 19 buprenorphine pills for a total of 35 doses of the prescription drug, guards said. Corrections officers estimated the prison “yard value” of the drug at $3,500 to $7,000. Michael Groner, supervisor for the guards when the drugs were discovered, wrote in his report “there is an ongoing investigation to attempt to determine how much buprenorphine inmate Martin distributed throughout the facility and to whom.” The new drug charge could potentially add up to a year to any sentence Martin may receive if convicted of the bank robbery charges. Martin pleaded innocent earlier this year to felony counts of grand larceny and assault and robbery for the Jan. 28 holdup of the Windsor County Credit Union in Springfield and the Feb. 17 robbery of Citizens Bank in Springfield Shopping Plaza. Police have said they found a substantial amount of evidence in Martin’s bedroom linking him to the robberies, including a fake beard and other items of clothing that appeared to match those the robber was wearing at both robberies.