Poultney man denies federal drug crimes

A Poultney man is facing 100 years in jail after being arraigned on Tuesday in federal court on five counts of distributing fentanyl and cocaine base.

Javon E. Wright, also known as “Ace,” 37, of Poultney, was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Rutland on June 29 on three felony counts of distributing cocaine base and fentanyl and two counts of distributing cocaine base, which is also known as “crack cocaine.”

He was arraigned Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to all five charges, which were based on alleged actions on May 4, 9, 12 and 19 and June 6 in Rutland County.

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 that Wright be detained, which is scheduled for today.

After Wright was indicted, he was arrested as he was leaving a store in Fair Haven on June 30, according to a release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for Vermont.

Federal authorities said law-enforcement officers recovered about nine grams of cocaine base and less than a gram each of heroin and fentanyl from Wright’s person during his arrest.

Early in the morning of July 1, law enforcement officers also executed a search warrant at Wright’s home on Bentley Avenue in Poultney and seized more than 80 grams of cocaine powder, 20 grams of cocaine base, 12 grams of methamphetamine and nine grams of fentanyl, the release said.

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.

Wright had also been scheduled to appear in Rutland criminal court on Monday to be arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The charge is based on an affidavit written by Trooper Brian Mazzola, of the Vermont State Police, who said he had been dispatched around 2:20 a.m. June 19, to a reported single-vehicle crash of a 2019 Audi SQ5 on Route 30 in Poultney.

Mazzola said when he got to the area, Trooper Zach Shaughnessy, also of the Vermont State Police, said he had noticed one open alcohol container in the sport utility vehicle that had crashed.

Mazzola said he spoke to Wright, who told him he had crashed after swerving the SQ5 to avoid two deer that had run across the road.

According to Mazzola, Wright’s speech was slurred, and he was mumbling. Mazzola said he could smell an odor of intoxicants but said Wright denied that he had been drinking before the crash.

Wright agreed to perform field sobriety tests but declined to give an evidentiary breath sample.

Mazzola said he took Wright into custody and brought him to the Castleton police station for processing but said Wright declined to answer questions or provide a breath sample.

Records showed the court clerks had been notified that Wright was in federal custody on Tuesday. His arraignment on the DUI charge is expected to be rescheduled in 30 days.

If convicted of the DUI, Wright could be sentenced to up to two years in prison, a fine of $750 or both.

The maximum penalty for each of the federal drug charges is 20 years of imprisonment, a $1 million fine and a mandatory three years of supervised release, which would follow any jail sentence, if Wright is convicted.

patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com