Jack M. Cohen, 36, of Hyde Park, Vermont, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Burlington for importing more than 50 kilograms of marijuana into the United States from Canada. The conviction follows Cohen’s guilty plea to a federal charge stemming from a March 2021 arrest along Route 114 in Canaan, Vermont, where U.S. Border Patrol agents intercepted him with a massive load of illicit drugs.
According to court records, agents stopped Cohen’s truck and seized approximately 272 pounds of packaged marijuana stuffed into large duffle bags in the vehicle’s bed. The bust occurred after Cohen departed from an unoccupied camp on the shores of Lake Wallace, where he had met with individuals who used snow machines and sleds to haul the drugs across frozen lake ice from the Canadian border. The operation was methodical, well-timed, and designed to evade detection in remote terrain.
Investigators uncovered that this was not Cohen’s first run. Evidence showed he had made at least two prior trips to the same Lake Wallace camp to ferry marijuana across the border, in addition to several other smuggling runs at different border locations. Prosecutors proved the broader smuggling enterprise moved at least 400 kilograms—nearly 882 pounds—of marijuana over multiple crossings, marking it as a sustained criminal operation.
United States District Judge Christina Reiss handed down a sentence of time served—approximately one day in custody—and imposed three years of supervised release. The lenient prison term reflects Cohen’s cooperation and guilty plea, but the supervised release means he will remain under federal scrutiny for the next three years, with strict conditions governing his movements and associations.
The case was led by the U.S. Border Patrol out of the Beecher Falls Station, a frontline unit in the battle against cross-border drug trafficking in northern Vermont. Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt praised the investigation, stating, “Cross-border smuggling by organized criminal enterprises and their clandestine exportation of large quantities of cash compromises our national security and undermines our relations with international partners.” He reaffirmed the DOJ’s commitment to dismantling trafficking networks operating along the northern border.
Cohen was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven Barth. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher prosecuted the case. Federal authorities warn that while this operation is closed, similar smuggling attempts continue to exploit Vermont’s rugged, isolated border regions—making vigilance and interagency cooperation critical to national security and public safety.
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Key Facts
- State: Vermont
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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