Forty-two-year-old Melvin Hill, a resident of Georgia, has been charged with distributing fentanyl in a Vermont court.
The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Hill appeared in United States District Court in Burlington yesterday on a criminal complaint charging him with distributing fentanyl. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle ordered that Hill be detained without bail pending trial, which has not been scheduled.
According to court records, in January 2022, a confidential source told law enforcement that it could buy narcotics from Hill. In February and March, this source made two controlled purchases of fentanyl from Hill in transactions that were recorded. Officers learned that Hill was staying at the Doubletree Hotel in South Burlington. They obtained a state court warrant to search Hill’s hotel room and the car he had been driving. Officers arrested Hill on March 10 and recovered a loaded pistol and crack cocaine from his person.
In his car and hotel room, officers seized hundreds of folds of heroin, hundreds of pills containing fentanyl, powder cocaine, and methamphetamine. They also found around $13,000 in cash.
The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charges in the complaint are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
If convicted, Hill faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000,000. The actual sentence would be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Burlington Police Department.
Hill is represented by the office of the Federal Public Defender. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
Related Federal Cases
- Fentanyl & Firearms: Melvin Hill Gets 15 Years · Vermont
- Melvin Hill, Drug & Gun Trafficking, Burlington VT, 2023 · Connecticut
- Matthew Senator Melvin, Fraud & Money Laundering, Shelburne VT, 2017 · New York
- Derrell Lee, Identity Theft and Bank Fraud, VT 2024 · New York
- Quadeall Daniels, Firearms Trafficking, CT 2017 · Connecticut
Key Facts
- State: Vermont
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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