Woman in treatment faces new drug charges

A Springfield woman in a drug treatment program was jailed this week after police said they caught her returning from a "drug run" to Troy, N.Y.

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Photo by Eric Francis Leah Martel is charged with possessing heroin and cocaine after being searched during a traffic stop. Published January 18, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Woman in treatment faces new drug charges By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield woman in a drug treatment program was jailed this week after police said they caught her returning from a “drug run” to Troy, N.Y. Leah Martel, 30, was ordered held for lack of $1,500 bail Monday after she pleaded innocent in White River Junction criminal court to a felony count of heroin possession and a misdemeanor count of cocaine possession. Martel is enrolled in Chittenden County’s drug court treatment program and had been traveling frequently to a methadone clinic in Lebanon, N.H., public defender Mike Shane told the court. Deputy State’s Attorney Heidi Remick argued for bail, saying Martel failed to appear for court dates eight times during her lengthy criminal history. Judge Theresa DiMauro agreed to the bail, saying Martel’s trips to New York appeared to violate at least the spirit of her treatment program. “Certainly, being in possession of drugs is not conducive to being in the treatment court either,” the judge said. Chester Police Officer Adam Woodell wrote in an affidavit that Martel was a passenger in a New York car that was stopped Saturday night because it was “drifting” across Route 11. The driver told police the “steering was off,” and they were on their way to Springfield from Troy, N.Y. After learning Martel had been arrested in the past for heroin possession, Woodell was assisted by a Bellows Falls officer with a drug-sniffing dog, which indicated narcotics were present, the affidavit said. Martel denied having drugs, but consented to be personally searched, Woodell wrote. During the search, a bundle of 10 small bags of heroin wrapped in a rubber band fell out of Martel’s shirt, police said, and a short time later she handed over a bag containing rocks of crack cocaine she had concealed. Martel could face up to six years on the new charges. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160118/NEWS02/160119531