Poultney, Vermont Man Charged with Distribution of Fentanyl and Cocaine Base

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on June 29, 2022 a federal grand jury, sitting in Rutland, charged Javon Wright (a.k.a. "Ace"), 37, of Poultney, Vermont with five counts of distributing fentanyl and cocaine base in May and June of 2022 in Rutland County.

According to court documents and proceedings, on June 30, 2022, following his indictment and the issuance of an arrest warrant, law enforcement arrested Wright as he was exiting a store in Fair Haven, Vermont. According to the government, at the time of his arrest, Wright possessed approximately 9 grams of cocaine base and less than a gram each of heroin and fentanyl. Also, early in the morning of July 1, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Wright's residence at 288 Bentley Avenue in Poultney, Vermont and seized approximately 82 grams of cocaine powder, 20 grams of cocaine base, 12 grams of methamphetamine, and 9 grams of fentanyl - all weights with packaging.

At today's arraignment, Wright pleaded not guilty to the charges. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle ordered Wright remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending a hearing on the government's motion for detention, which the Court scheduled for July 7, 2022.

The maximum penalty for each of the charges are 20 years of imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, and a mandatory three years of supervised release, which follows any jail sentence. Any actual sentence, however, will be informed by the advisory Sentencing Guidelines. The Indictment is an accusation only and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

United States Attorney Nikolas Kerest commended the efforts of the Vermont State Police Narcotics Investigative Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this matter. This case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Perella. Wright is represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Burlington.