By MIKE DONOGHUE
Vermont News First
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Three drug dealers linked to a Springfield home used to distribute fentanyl, crack cocaine and powder cocaine have agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Burlington to federal trafficking charges.
Joshua “Lou” Garcia, 26, of Springfield, Massachusetts, admitted last Friday afternoon to a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine in 2024.
Gianni “G” Gamble, 23, of Springfield, Massachusetts, is due to plead guilty in federal court on Tuesday afternoon to the same felony conspiracy charge, court records show.
Jesse Morey, 32, of Springfield, has signed a plea agreement in which the Windsor County man admits to a separate charge: knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine on June 10, 2024.
The Vermont Drug Task Force and Springfield Police led a raid at a home at 37 Reed Street in Springfield on June 18, 2024, that netted the arrests of five suspects for various drug and gun charges, officials said. The raid followed several controlled buys of illegal drugs at the house, the task force said.
Garcia and Gamble, according to their signed plea agreements, admit they began selling illegal drugs from the residence in early 2023. Both Garcia and Gamble would remain in a back room — a makeshift bedroom — on the first floor in what had been part of the living and dining area.
Garcia and Gamble relied on what are called “middlers” — so called because they act as the middle person between drug buyers and drug sellers to avoid direct contact. Associates for Garcia and Gamble would meet the drug customers in the laundry room and/or kitchen area of the residence and accept the cash, court records show.
The “middlers” would then provide the cash to Gamble, Garcia or some associate in the back room, records show. The “middlers” would then be provided the crack cocaine, fentanyl or both to bring back to the customer, records show.
Morey is planning to plead guilty on May 29 to a different federal felony charge: the actual distribution of fentanyl and crack cocaine, according to federal court records.
A confidential informant was sent into 37 Reed Street in an effort to try to buy controlled substances. The informant had to wait in line for other customers to get their drugs, before he could buy a small quantity of both fentanyl and crack cocaine from Morey, according to the plea agreement. Morey was provided serialized currency and a short time later the informant was handed 11 bags of heroin/fentanyl, along with .6 grams of crack cocaine.
Law enforcement executed the search warrant on 37 Reed Street on June 18 and found Gamble and Garcia among the occupants. During the search of the back room, police found 10,171 bags of fentanyl, more than nine ounces of powder cocaine and more than 50 grams of crack cocaine, the drug task force said.
Officers also found two Glocks: a 9-mm handgun, which was stolen from New Hampshire and a 10-mm handgun, police said. Also seized was additional ammunition.
The government is seeking the voluntary forfeiture of the 10-mm handgun, assorted ammunition and $9,950 in cash seized in the case from Garcia and Gamble based on their convictions in the case.
The execution of the search warrant stemmed from a months-long drug investigation by the drug task force into trafficking fentanyl and cocaine from 37 Reed St.
All three federal defendants face a maximum of up to 20 years in prison, up to lifetime supervised release and up to a $1 million fine.
They were initially ordered into state court, but eventually federal prosecutors took over part of the case. Garcia, Gamble and Morey have been detained since being charged in federal court in the fall.
All three had spotty records when they were arrested after a federal grand jury in Rutland indicted them on Sept. 18, 2024.
Garcia was arrested on the federal warrant from Vermont in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Oct. 3, 2024, and was found with a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of narcotics and two handguns, including one with a high-capacity magazine, court records show.
No charges have been filed in Massachusetts and the Vermont plea agreement makes clear it does not cover any possible crimes coming from his arrest on the Vermont warrant. The items seized also will not be used to calculate the federal sentencing guidelines, the plea agreement notes.
When arrested on the federal charges, Morey had 11 failures to appear for court, three convictions for violating conditions of release when freed from court, 12 misdemeanor convictions and 10 other convictions for violating the terms of his probation in earlier cases, records show.
Morey also appeared to have pending felony charges in New Hampshire related to theft and some unrelated misdemeanor charges unrelated to the federal drug case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ophardt wrote.
When Gamble was arrested, he had a recent conviction in Florida for a violent crime and appeared be on probation at the time the federal drug crimes were committed, Ophardt said. He said he was concerned because Gamble was using a firearm during the drug trafficking in Vermont and a large quantity of drugs were seized at his residence.
Defense lawyer Karen Shingler on behalf of Gamble, has filed a motion seeking his release at the hearing this week. Shingler said a release plan has been developed that she said would protect the community and ensure Gamble returns to court for sentencing.
The proposed plan includes him living with his mother and sister in Altamonte, Florida, in the interim, Shingler said in her written motion. He has been detained since Oct. 2, she said.
Also arrested on state charges during the June 2024 raid were; Michael Spaulding, 51, of Springfield on two counts of sale of cocaine and two counts of sale of fentanyl, the Vermont Drug Task Force said at the time.
Spaulding, who had lived at 37 Reed St. for about five months, told investigators he handled between $1,000 and $3,000 a day in drug sales for the associates, records note.
Douglas Marsh, 55, of Springfield was picked up for a sale of cocaine charge and a pending arrest warrant.
Marsh told investigators that the drug dealers got a fresh supply every three or four days, records show.
Garcia and Gamble also faced state charges of possession of stolen property, while Gamble had an added count of being a person prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The outcome of the state charges were unknown.
Besides the drug task force and Springfield Police, also participating in the raid were the Vermont State Police uniform and detective divisions, the SWAT Unit, the Crisis Negotiation team, the Unmanned (drone) Aircraft Systems Program, and the Bomb Squad, along with the FBI and the Springfield Fire Department.
