(This article by Ed Damon was published in the Bennington Banner on Feb. 2, 2017.)
BENNINGTON — Police say they arrested nine people in Bennington County this week for allegedly selling heroin.
The Vermont Drug Task Force and local law enforcement made the arrests after several months of investigation, according to a news release issued by the Vermont State Police on Wednesday night. All nine individuals face at least one felony charge of selling heroin. Three of the individuals face additional charges of conspiracy. The arrests took place between Monday and Wednesday after numerous investigations into the distribution of heroin, the release stated.
The arrests represent law enforcement’s intent to track down mid-level drug dealers, according to State Police Capt. John Merrigan.
“Some like to think the people who are responsible [for distributing drugs] are all from out-of-state, but they’re not,” Merrigan, commander of special investigations, said on Wednesday night. While many top-tier dealers bring drugs across state lines and into Vermont, “it’s Vermonters who are responsible for moving it around.”
Merrigan said the individuals sold heroin in quantities “above the means to support their own drug habit.”
“They’re responsible not just for consuming, but trafficking it, for getting it into other people’s hands,” he said.
Details of the circumstances surrounding the arrests and allegations were not provided Wednesday night.
But police did identify who was arrested, the charges, and dates they would be arraigned in Vermont Superior Court Criminal Division Bennington.
Police said they arrested the following people:
Amanda Wilkins, 30, of Bennington, is accused of two counts of sale of heroin. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Isaiah Meyer, 21, of Bennington, is accused of one count of sale of heroin. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Jessica Tobin, 35, of Bennington, is accused of one count of sale of heroin. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Nicholas DeGennaro, 29, of Bennington, is accused of two counts of sale of heroin. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Thomas R. Vollinger, 27, of Shaftsbury, is accused of one count of sale of heroin and one count of conspiracy. He is currently held on a furlough violation. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Katherine McLenithan, 26, of Milton, is accused of one count of sale of heroin. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
Police requested arrest warrants for the following people:
Nicole Bishop, 25, of Woodford, is accused of two counts of sale of heroin, and three counts of conspiracy.
Richard Martin, 30, of Woodford, is accused of three counts of sale of heroin, and three counts of conspiracy.
Justin Burroughs, 36, is accused of two counts of sale of heroin.
Both Bishop and Martin are currently being held in Albany County Jail in New York. Burroughs has an outstanding arrest warrant in Bennington County for failing to appear to court for a charge of possessing heroin.
The Vermont Drug Task Force was assisted by troopers with the Shaftsbury barracks, the Bennington Police Department and the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department.
The arrests come less than a week after a similar sweep in Rutland County: Troopers last week arrested 10 people in that county for allegedly selling heroin and crack cocaine.
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