Drug dealer's sentence reduced – to 27 years
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: July 3, 2009
BURLINGTON — A Connecticut man convicted of federal drug trafficking charges had his sentence reduced Tuesday but will likely still spend a long time behind bars.
Michael Story, of Hartford, Conn., was resentenced in U.S. District Court in Burlington to 27 years in prison, a reduction from the 30-year sentence he received in 2007.
Story, who was 35 at the time of his first sentence, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine. His lengthy sentence was due to his criminal history, which included three prior drug trafficking convictions.
When imposing the original sentence, records state, the court noted "… this is a huge case by Vermont standards. A lot of drugs, a lot of people suffered and the guns and the drugs, the threats of violence, just is different than what we experience here."
According to federal prosecutors, in 2005, Story supervised a group of drug traffickers who distributed several ounces of crack cocaine weekly between Bellows Falls and White River Junction. During his guilty plea, Story admitted bringing drugs from his home state and returning to Connecticut with firearms.
Story was originally charged with cocaine possession in August 2005 after a traffic stop in the Brattleboro area.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles said the sentence reduction was due to improvements Story had made in his life, as well as the evolution of case law governing the sentencing of crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine.
Story's attorney, Jason J. Sawyer, said his 450-pound client — known affectionately as "Big Mike" — has spent his time in prison counseling other inmates about the dangers of drugs. Sawyer said the reduction is also based on the judge's consideration of the disparity in the way crack cocaine is treated versus powdered cocaine.
Federal sentencing guidelines have used a 100-to-one ratio, meaning 5 grams of crack cocaine was sentenced as if it were 500 grams of powdered cocaine.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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