Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Two draw prison time in crack cocaine case; a Third Person to be Sentenced Next Month

Two men who pleaded guilty to selling crack cocaine in the Rutland area were handed lengthy prison sentences by a federal judge on Monday and a third person in the drug ring will be sentenced later.


Twenty eight year-old Charles Brown of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced to five years in prison and then four years of supervised release. Brown's co-defendant 49-year-old Gordon Ritchie of Rutland, was sentenced to 55 months in jail and five years of supervised release. Jennifer Leonard, a third party in the drug trafficking ring, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine along with Ritchie, who is her uncle and Brown, who is her boyfriend in September 2008. Leonard is scheduled for sentencing next month. Investigators say The trio brought "large" amounts of crack from Massachusetts to Vermont from early 2005 to March 2006.