A Bellows Falls man was sentenced to 8½ years in prison for possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Christopher Paige Jr., 38, was sentenced Oct. 21 after pleading guilty to the two federal charges. Along with the prison term, Paige was sentenced to four years of supervision following his release.
Paige was in possession of more than 40 grams of fentanyl when he was arrested Dec. 12, 2017, and when his apartment was searched, police found more than 2,500 individual dosage bags containing fentanyl, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont.
In October and November 2017, police coordinated operations with a criminal informant who bought heroin and fentanyl from Paige, which led to his eventual arrest.
Paige has six previous felony convictions, including convictions for felony heroin possession and federal firearm convictions, according to court documents.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is much stronger than heroin. Its presence in Vermont’s street drugs is well known to police — the drug was detected in 82% of this year’s fatal overdoses, as of May. While overdoses are frequent in Vermont, opioid-related deaths are dropping in Chittenden County. From 2017 to 2018, opioid-related deaths dropped by almost half in Vermont most populous county.
Paige’s supply of fentanyl could have killed thousands, United States Attorney Christina Nolan stated in the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release concerning Paige’s sentencing.
“This egregious conduct will not be tolerated and will be met with serious consequences, as this outcome exemplifies,” Nolan stated. “We remain acutely aware of the recent increase in overdose deaths in areas of southeast Vermont and of the suffering in those communities and across the state. Our charging priorities will so reflect.”
Paige’s attorney, Michael Desautels, did not return a request for comment. The prosecutor on the case, Assistant United States Attorney Michael Drescher, also did not return requests for comment.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bellows Falls man sentenced to 8½ years for drug and firearm charges.