Brattleboro man connected to Oak Street drug house pleads guilty | The Brattleboro Reformer

By Mike Donoghue, Reformer Correspondent

BURLINGTON — The first Brattleboro resident connected to a major drug house on Oak Street pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to a new charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin, crack cocaine and fentanyl.

Francis “Peanut” Macie, 44, acknowledged that between October 2018 and Feb. 28 both in Vermont and elsewhere he conspired with various people to distribute the three controlled substances.

Macie was allowing up to 50 customers a day into his apartment for drug sales by Chyquan “Cash” Cupe, 21, of Hartford, Conn., a prosecutor said in court. He said a second apartment in Brattleboro was used to hide drugs for the conspirators.

Macie was initially charged with knowingly renting, using and maintaining an apartment at 33 Oak Street for the purpose of distributing and using the three drugs between December 2018 and February.

He was one of four Brattleboro residents arrested during a raid in late February by the Vermont Drug Task Force and Brattleboro Police. The Oak Street apartment had been a thorn in the side of neighbors and police, who had fielded numerous complaints about the ongoing foot traffic at the building for about a year.

The pre-dawn raid followed Cupe’s arrest a week earlier. Cupe pleaded not guilty to two counts of distributing crack cocaine and one count of distributing fentanyl.

A prosecutor said in federal court on Tuesday that Macie initially allowed Cupe to sleep on a couch in the living room of apartment 4 at 33 Oak Street. Cupe was later permitted to move into a bedroom and use the apartment as a major distribution hub, the prosecutor said.

Also arrested in the raid were:

– Desiree Wells-Cooper, 34, charged with knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl on Feb. 15 and 25;

– Linda Wainwright, 41, charged with knowingly and intentionally distributing heroin and fentanyl on Feb. 20 and 22;

– Juan Sanchez Jr., 20, charged with knowingly and intentionally possessing with an intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine on Thursday.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During the court proceedings Tuesday, Macie agreed to waive a requirement that a grand jury indict him on the new charge that he was being asked to acknowledge. Under the law, a grand jury — which consists of 16 to 23 people — must have at least 12 members agree to file the felony charge.

Judge Christina Reiss set the sentencing for Sept. 12.

Defense lawyer John-Claude Charbonneau of Rutland did not object to Macie being detained pending sentencing.

Charbonneau, a former federal prosecutor, had worked to get his client screened and admitted to Valley Vista drug rehabilitation center in Bradford in March, but it did not go well.

Macie used a bag of heroin on March 22 on his way to Valley Vista to begin his residential substance abuse treatment, Probation Officer Shawna Lapierre reported. He was due for release on April 8, but would only get partial credit for being there, court records show.

U.S. Deputy Marshals drove to Bradford to take Macie out of Valley Vista on a warrant issued by Federal Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Boscia asked that Macie’s release be revoked and that he be detained pending trial.

The original plan for Macie, after completing the Valley Vista program, was to live in a residence at 16 School Street in Brattleboro until a sober house bed became available through the Phoenix House Rise Program or Brattleboro Retreat, court records show.