By Mike Donoghue
EAGLE TIMES CORRESPONDENT
BURLINGTON, VT – The final two defendants wanted in a wide-ranging gun and drug investigation have been arrested as part of a Springfield-based conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine.
Todd M. Amell, 51, and Alex Barnes, 34, appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington following their separate arrests in Windsor County last week.
Both pleaded not guilty to conspiring in Vermont and elsewhere with 6 other co-defendants between March 2022 and November 2022 to help distribute the two drugs, according to the indictment.
The first three defendants pleaded not guilty when they were part of the initial roundup following a Nov. 30, 2022, drug sweep in Springfield.
Jonathan “Jose” Castro, 33, and Anibal “Papi” Castro Sr., 55, both of Springfield were part of a conspiracy involved in the distribution of fentanyl and crack cocaine between March and Nov. 30, 2022, the Vermont Drug Task Force said.
Derek Arie, 34, of Springfield also denied the conspiracy count and a separate charge of knowingly possessing crack cocaine on June 4, 2022, with intent to distribute.
James Hines, 54, Jennifer Armstrong, 43, and Michael J. Cotter, 32, were arrested in subsequent months and denied the crack cocaine and fentanyl conspiracy charge.
All 8 defendants are now awaiting trial. Pre-trial motions are due by Aug. 7, Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle has said.
Federal, state and local authorities raided 3 residences on Valley Street in Springfield on Nov. 30, 2022, as part of the ongoing drug and gun investigation.
The apartments were on the first floor at 70 Valley Street and the second floor at 77 and 78 Valley Street, court records show.
Amell’s initial appearance before Doyle last week was delayed a day because he was going through withdrawal. The following day he told the court he was feeling much better.
Defense lawyer Chandler Matson said it appeared his client was a “low-level participant” in the conspiracy.
Barnes, when he appeared in court on Friday, said he had been treated for narcotic addiction earlier in life. Defense lawyer John-Claude Charbonneau, a former federal prosecutor, said he hoped to develop a possible release plan that would include residential drug treatment.
A recent attempt to spring Cotter from jail by his defense lawyer was denied.
Burlington lawyer Mark D. Oettinger proposed that Cotter be allowed to enroll at Live Free Recovery in Keene, N.H. for a 30-to-45-day program, followed by residing at White Mountain Recovery Home, a sober living facility in Littleton, N.H., court records show.
The prosecution objected to the plan and Doyle agreed Cotter should remain in custody.
The prosecution had maintained earlier that Cotter was a danger to the community if he was released.
The government said evidence showed Cotter travelled regularly to Massachusetts to obtain controlled substances and brought them back to Vermont.
As an offshoot of the case, Martine Protas, 43, of Springfield is charged in a federal indictment with illegal possession of a loaded firearm while being an unlawful use of drugs, records show.
She was arrested with Annibal Castro Sr. while they were suspected of smoking crack cocaine in the parking lot at Springfield Hospital on Nov. 30, records show.
Anibal Castro, who has a history of equipping himself with firearms, has about five felony convictions in New York State going back to 1991, records show.
Doyle agreed to release Protas from jail for a drug treatment program at Valley Vista in Vergennes on March 30, but she failed to show up the next day, records show. She had no contact with the Probation Office and was missing, records show. She was arrested April 6.
She is now scheduled for a change of plea hearing this Friday in her gun case, records show.
The Vermont Drug Task Force, the Vermont State Police, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the police departments in Springfield, Windsor, Brattleboro, and in Lebanon, N.H., along with the Office of Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Ward Goodenough collaborated on the investigation and raids.
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