A Lebanon, Pennsylvania, man who was arrested on drug charges in March at the Highlander Motel on North Main Street in Rutland was arraigned Tuesday on federal charges of being a felon in possession of a gun.
Joel Ivan Caquias Aviles, 21, who law-enforcement officials also described as having a Springfield, Massachusetts, address pleaded not guilty to the charge.
In March, Aviles and Daniel Ruiz, 34, also of Springfield, were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine base and possession of heroin and cocaine base.
Both were arraigned on Tuesday on a superseding indictment but only Aviles was faced with a new charge.
After Aviles and Ruiz were arrested, police said the two had set up a drug trafficking business operating from the Highlander.
Aviles and Ruiz were arrested after a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and Rutland City Police. Sgt. Chuck Whitehead, a detective with the Rutland City police, said guns, cash, crack cocaine and heroin were seized during the investigation.
Two Rutland men were also arrested and charged in Rutland County criminal court with drug charges. Ron Kreth, 58, was charged with sale of heroin, and Darren Dwyer, 30, was charged with possession of crack cocaine.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.