Two Mass. men get probation in separate drug cases

The state dismissed a felony count of heroin trafficking, per the plea agreement.

For the cocaine-selling conviction, police used a cooperating individual, identified as “Blue,” to purchase crack cocaine from Morales in Barre City in January 2019, according to court records.

For the cocaine possession conviction, police said a vehicle was pulled over in September 2019 on Interstate 89 because it had no front license plate. Police recognized the driver from previous encounters as a drug user, according to court records. Police said Morales was a passenger in the vehicle.

Police said the driver admitted she had crack cocaine in her possession.

A records check showed there was an arrest warrant out for Morales for the cocaine sale charge from January 2019, according to court records. Police said inside the vehicle police found a satchel belonging to Morales with 43 grams of suspected crack cocaine and eight bundles of suspected heroin inside.

Deputy State's Attorney Alfonso Villegas had argued for a year to serve for Morales and 10 years on probation. Attorney William Cobb, who represented Morales, argued for no time to serve and two years on probation.

Villegas said Morales was bringing drugs into Vermont as a way to make money.

“Drugs being brought into the state of Vermont pose a great, grave danger to the community,” he said, adding 2021 is going to be known as one of the deadliest years in the state in terms of drug overdoses.

Villegas said Morales took advantage of residents with an addiction to substances for profit. Unfortunately, the prosecutor said the state is an attractive market for drugs. He said drugs are sold in this state for two to three times what they go for in Massachusetts. Villegas said drug sellers know they can come here and quickly offload their product multiple times.

He said these dealers know they will likely get released when they get caught and will keep selling. Villegas said that was the case with Morales, as he had drug charges pending when he was found with more drugs in September 2019.

“Mr. Morales did not make a mistake, he made a calculated choice of profits over people,” he said.

Cobb said Morales has been on a 24-hour curfew as a condition of his release for two and a half years and has not picked up any charges for violating his conditions of release. Morales has two young children, one with a serious heart condition, and Cobb said his client has been a stay-at-home dad since being charged. He said there has been some rehabilitation from Morales since he's been charged and he's heading in a much better direction now.

Morales said what he did was a mistake and he was “young-minded” when he came to Vermont. He said he was in court to face the consequences of his actions.

Judge Kevin Griffin said everyone knows drugs are brought in from the interstate and it's frustrating. Griffin said while taking that into account along with Morales' conviction, he also has to take into account who Morales is and what his circumstances are. He said it's clear that the only reason Morales was in Vermont was to distribute drugs.

But the judge said the state hadn't convinced him that putting Morales behind bars would accomplish much. Griffin said Morales' strict conditions of release, which he has observed since September 2019, were not lost on the judge. He said Morales is still too young to understand what kind of impact these felony convictions are going to have on his future. Griffin said if Morales picks up more charges, he could face a 10-year sentence.

Kadar Ahrayaalhla St. Phard, 28, of Springfield, Massachusetts, also was sentenced Tuesday to one to four years, all suspended except for seven months with credit for time served on a felony count of cocaine possession. St. Phard was placed on probation for four years and also must complete 50 hours of community service.

He has already served about seven months on pretrial detention. He was found guilty by a jury after a trial in November, though the jury did not find him guilty on a felony count of heroin possession.

His co-defendant, Khair-Uldin Abdul-Raheem, 33, also of Springfield, has been charged with a felony count of cocaine possession. That case is still pending and Abdul-Raheem has pleaded not guilty.

According to police, St. Phard and Abdul-Raheem were selling drugs out of the Budget Inn in Barre. A search warrant was executed at the motel and police said they found Abdul-Raheem as well as a bag of a white, rock-like substance consistent with crack cocaine, a broken crack pipe, two cellphones and $134 in cash in one of the rooms. The substance field tested positive for cocaine and weighed 6.75 grams, according to court records.

Police said they found St. Phard in a second room as well as two bags of suspected crack cocaine, 105 bags of suspected heroin, $500 in cash and a cellphone. Police said the white substance field tested positive for cocaine. The suspected heroin, which weighed 2.31 grams, wasn’t field-tested due to the possible presence of fentanyl, according to court records.

Villegas had argued for a sentence of 24 to 25 months, all suspended except for a year to serve and five years on probation. St. Phard's attorney, Brice Simon, argued for time served and three years on probation.

Villegas said St. Phard accepted a risk by taking the case to trial and also accepted a risk by engaging in drug distribution in central Vermont. He said St. Phard came to the state to make money by exploiting people with substance use issues. The prosecutor said St. Phard needs to be held accountable.

Simon said the time St. Phard has already spent behind bars is sufficient punishment. He said locking people up has not been shown to be effective at combating the drug epidemic.

Simon said his client is a different person now than he was when he first came to Barre. He said the time behind bars was a wake-up call and St. Phard has turned his life around. Simon said any additional incarceration would interfere in the progress St. Phard has made.

St. Phard said he's changed the people around him during the past two years. He said he's now more engaged in his oldest child's life and has another young child that he's taking care of.

“That responsibility has allowed me to build a lot of structure in my life,” he said.

Judge Griffin said having a prison sentence hanging over St. Phard's head if he picks up more charges should be a sufficient deterrent.

“But only time will tell,” the judge said.

He said St. Phard doesn't have a prior criminal history and to go from that to spending seven months in prison is punishment. He said St. Phard essentially already served the punitive part of his sentence.