Michelle Provencher, Cocaine and Fentanyl Trafficking, Vermont 2023

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Table of Contents

Three Fugitives Arrested on Federal Drug Charges in Westmore, Vermont

Burlington, Vermont – Michelle Provencher, 24, a resident of Vermont and originally of Irasburg, Vermont, was arrested and held in federal custody on Friday, January 13, 2023, following the search of a rented Airbnb residence in Westmore, Vermont pursuant to a federal search warrant.

Two Massachusetts residents, Nathaniel Jamal Jones, 36, also known as “JJ,” and Jermaine Douchette, Jr., 42, also known as “Bear,” both previously of Springfield, Massachusetts, were also arrested at the rental property.

All three individuals were fugitives who had active federal warrants for their arrests based upon an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Vermont on December 22, 2022, charging them with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl between August 2022 and October 26, 2022.

Jones and Douchette face additional counts for specific distributions of controlled substances. Jones and Douchette had previously been charged in a criminal complaint relating to those charges on October 24, 2022.

The indictment alleges that the defendants were participants in a conspiracy that involved at least seven individuals who agreed with one another to distribute controlled substances in the District of Vermont.

According to an affidavit filed with the earlier criminal complaint, defendants Jones and Douchette distributed controlled substances from the Barton residence of codefendant Erika Desormeaux. Investigators arranged the purchase of cocaine and fentanyl from the defendants on multiple occasions between August and October 2022, and most of those transactions occurred at the Barton residence.

The charges in the indictment against Jones, Douchette, and Provencher are accusations only, and they are each presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in further proceedings.

If convicted of the lead conspiracy count, each defendant would face a maximum possible penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of the Northern Vermont Drug Task Force (NVDTF) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in this case.

The case against Michelle Provencher is ongoing, with a detention hearing scheduled for January 20, 2023. Nathaniel Jamal Jones and Jermaine Douchette, Jr. were ordered to be detained in federal custody pending further proceedings.