Jesse Harris, Heroin Dealing, Vermont 2016

Drug Kingpin Gets 27 Months in Prison

GRIMY TIMES EXCLUSIVE: In a move to combat the growing heroin epidemic in Vermont, a New York City man has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for his role in distributing the deadly substance.

Jesse Harris, 38, of Brooklyn, New York, was handed down the prison term by U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III on May 2, 2016 after pleading guilty to charges that he distributed heroin.

According to court records, Harris regularly traveled from the New York City area to Chittenden County, Vermont, with heroin to sell between 2014 and his arrest on June 30, 2015. Harris would stay at the apartment of local residents and use that apartment as a base from which to sell heroin to his customers.

On June 30, 2015, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Burlington Police Department, who had been jointly investigating Harris, arrested him after he arrived in Vermont via bus. Harris had approximately 500 bags of heroin on his person.

For his crime, Harris faced a statutory maximum term of 20 years in prison. The United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are advisory, recommended that Harris receive a prison term between 51 and 63 months. The United States argued that Harris should receive a 51-month sentence.

However, in determining that a more lenient sentence was appropriate in this case, Judge Sessions considered Harris’ lack of a serious criminal record and the fact that he abided by his pretrial conditions of release, among other factors.

United States Attorney Eric Miller commended the efforts of DEA and the Burlington Police Department for their coordinated efforts in this investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Doherty, Jr. Harris is represented by David McColgin of the Federal Public Defender’s Office.

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