Man pleads not guilty to drug counts | The Brattleboro Reformer

By Mike Donoghue, Reformer Correspondent

BURLINGTON — A federal magistrate ordered a Manchester man — wanted as a major distributor for fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in Southern Vermont — held without bail following his arraignment Thursday in Burlington.

Torrie D. Smith, 29, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to a two-count drug indictment linking him to one of the largest drug seizures in Southern Vermont, Manchester Police said.

According to police, the investigation showed Smith was one of the largest distributors of cocaine, heroin and pills in the four Southern Vermont counties, but also reached into Chittenden County and beyond.

During his arraignment Smith denied he possessed fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine on Jan. 25 with the intent to distribute the drugs. It stems from a traffic stop on Main Street by Manchester Officers Jason Thomas and D.J. Jennings and subsequent investigation, police said

Smith, who is originally from Hartford, Conn. also denied a second count for possession of heroin and crack cocaine on Nov. 27, 2018. That felony charge stems from a motor vehicle stop in Sunderland by Vermont State Police.

The investigation netted police 396 bags of pure fentanyl, 9 grams of heroin, more than 4 ounces of crack cocaine in bulk form, and a large quantity of methamphetamine in colorful cube form, police said.

The meth in cube form is new to the Manchester area, police said.

Smith also has been implicated in the possession of 200 oxycodone pills and about 40 grams of crack cocaine in Chester on March 27, but no formal charges have been filed yet in that case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

Chester Police Chief Rick Cloud said Thursday afternoon he has been told the drug investigation from his department will be rolled into the federal prosecution.

Cloud said an investigation also is underway to try to determine why — when one of his police officers had a criminal record check run on Smith on March 27 — it did not reveal the pending federal arrest warrant from the indictment.

The grand jury in Rutland indicted Smith on March 13, but the arrest warrant and indictment were both ordered withheld from the public until Smith could be picked up. Cloud said there may have been a problem when somebody tried to enter the arrest warrant into the computer.

In all three incidents police applied for state search warrants and each time later found multiple types of drugs, records show.

Officials said Smith was found in a car parked behind an unoccupied residence in Chester. Cloud said he and his K-9 were called to the scene on Vermont 11 and the drug-detection dog alerted on the vehicle.

Cloud said he expects others that were in Smith’s car will face drug charges.

Manchester Police said they arrested Smith at an undisclosed local convenience store about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday not far from where he was living. Smith was in possession of crack cocaine packaged for resale when arrested, police said.

He was transported north to Burlington that evening to await his federal court arraignment.

The first felony count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years with a potential maximum of 40 years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The second count has a 20 year maximum prison term.

Federal Magistrate John M. Conroy agreed with a government request for Smith to be jailed pending trial because he is both a danger to the community and a risk to flee.

Conroy noted Smith has an extensive criminal history, including amassing six felony convictions. He also has a lack of ties to Vermont, Conroy said.

Chief Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels said the defense may later challenge the detention order.

Desautels did request 60 days to review the evidence, to await the lab results of the drug tests and also to get the dash cam recordings from the police cruisers during at least two traffic stops involving Smith.

Conroy gave Desautels until June 3 to file any pre-trial motions.

About a month after Smith’s move in November into Manchester, town police began an investigation into his possible drug activities, officials said.

Police said Smith was arrested without incident by Sgt. James Blanchard, Detectives Thomas Crowe and Abigail Zimmer, and Officer Dontrell Royal.

The 396 bags of pure fentanyl seized by police was enough to kill more than 33,000 people by dose weight, Crowe said citing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records.

“It will make a sizable dent (in the southern Vermont drug trade) temporarily,” the veteran officer said.

The Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, Bennington Police, Vermont State Police, and the Southern Vermont Drug Task Force assisted with the case.

Manchester Journal Editor Darren Marcy contributed to this report.