Feds order drug suspect released in Roxbury case

BURLINGTON — A federal magistrate has ordered a Hartford, Connecticut man released after Northfield Police found more than a pound of crack cocaine, 100 grams of fentanyl, and a loaded .45-caliber handgun at his trailer in nearby Roxbury.

Kamari Hollis, 26, is charged in U.S. District Court with possession of crack cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and powder cocaine in Washington County last Friday with intent to distribute the drugs, court records show.

Northfield Police, along with the FBI Task Force and several other central Vermont law enforcement agencies found the drugs during the raid at a trailer on Thurston Hill Road in Roxbury, records show.

Hollis was not asked to enter a plea during his initial appearance in court. He will have a probable cause hearing on Aug. 12 unless a federal grand jury indicts him in the interim.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson argued Hollis was a danger to the community and a risk to flee. She noted Hollis was reaching for the loaded gun and the drugs when officers entered the bedroom after he refused to come out upon orders.

Assistant Federal Defender Steven Barth maintained Hollis could be released to live with his girlfriend or his family in Hartford.

Masterson said Hollis and his girlfriend gave inconsistent statements to the Pre-Trial Services Office. They could not agree on his work history, and she maintained he did not own a vehicle, but Hollis said he had two vehicles, including a Mercedes.

Masterson said for somebody without a job to own two vehicles, and to have a large drug stash, including a half kilogram of crack cocaine, showed it was clear what he was doing for work.

In the end, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle sided with Barth and agreed to release Hollis on conditions. Doyle rejected a request by Masterson that location monitoring and home detention be imposed.

Doyle appeared concerned that the court affidavit did not state how close Hollis was to getting the gun or drugs, and Masterson said she did not know. She said he failed to come out as ordered, and was reaching for the gun when police entered his bedroom.

Federal court records indicated Hollis was seeing a minimum of 40 drug customers in a day, a witness told investigators.

“Hollis has and sells crack cocaine and heroin, but most of the time puts fentanyl in the crack because people buy more of it,” a court affidavit noted.

Five other people from the Roxbury area were arrested on either old arrest warrants or possession of small amounts of drugs, Northfield Police stated after the raid.

Found in the room with Hollis was 560 grams of crack cocaine, 422 individual glassine bags of heroin/fentanyl, 116 grams of fentanyl and 50 grams of powder cocaine, records show.

Hollis, also known as “Max,” had been staying at the trailer for two weeks, court records noted.