Two plead in major Manchester drug case | The Bennington Banner

By Mike Donoghue, Banner Correspondent

BURLINGTON — Two Holyoke, Mass. area men pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in federal court in Burlington for their part in possessing almost 1,100 bags of fentanyl with intent to distribute as part of a major drug conspiracy in southern Vermont in December 2017.

Branden Fournier, 24, admitted he signed a plea agreement that calls for a prison sentence somewhere between 4.5 years and 9.5 years.

Jonathan “Bovice” Resto, 24, said signed a plea deal that does not speak to an agreed upon sentence in U.S. District Court.

Senior Judge William K. Sessions III said the crime normally calls for up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine. Once discharged from prison they face supervised release from 3 years to life.

The drug distribution case has been linked indirectly to a double homicide and arson case in Windham County.

The third defendant in the case, Anthony “Ant” Casiano, 24, from Easthampton, Mass. received a 15-month federal prison sentence in March for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

The defense and prosecution maintained Casiano was a minor player in the major drug distribution conspiracy and he was trying to turn his life around.

The trio was responsible for distributing an estimated 6,000 bags of heroin a week before they were arrested in Bennington County, court papers show.

Authorities arrested Fournier, Resto and Casiano at the Four Winds Country Motel on Main Street in Manchester during a Dec. 20, 2017 raid.

Besides the roughly 1,092 bags of fentanyl seized from a safe in the rented room, federal, state and Manchester Police officers found two baggies with about 22 grams of cocaine, a drug ledger and digital scales found, court papers stated.

A lock box with $4,180 in U.S. currency – primarily in $20 bills — was found next to Fournier in his bed, officials said.

Fournier and Resto, who both said in court on Monday they never finished high school, acknowledged the prosecution would have been able to prove the drug charge had it gone to trial.

Jury selection for the case was scheduled to begin later this month in in Burlington.

Defense lawyers Devin McLaughlin of Middlebury for Fournier and Karen Shingler of Burlington for Resto also told the court they believed the prosecution could prove the case against their respective clients.

Shingler, after court, said she and Resto opted not to get locked in with a minimum and maximum sentence. She said they agreed to wait to see what the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory, provide.

Judge Sessions postponed sentencing until at least November. A federal presentence investigation report will be prepared on both defendants by the U.S. Probation Office.

The group sold drugs out of Manchester area motel rooms, records show. They indicate at least four drug sales happened at the Chalet Annex Motel on Depot Street starting in October 2017.

Fournier was the drug supplier and had taken over after his uncle – another drug dealer — was fatally shot and his cabin torched in Townhsend in late October 2017, state and federal court records show.

Steven Lovely, 43, and Amanda Sanderson, 35, were gunned down and their cabin torched in Townshend on Oct. 27, 2017, court records show.

Justin Orwat, 46, of Springfield, Mass. is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and a first degree arson charge for burning down the cabin where they were staying on Shirley Circle. He has denied the charges.

Orwat is still awaiting trial in Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro.

Once Lovely was out of the picture, one drug addict reported she turned to Fournier for her drugs, court records show. They noted Resto was listed as equals in their drug business.