United States Drug Enforcement Administration

RUTLAND Vt. -  John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and United States Attorney Tristram J. Coffin, United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that yesterday, Kevin Dodge, 45, of Island Pond, was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.

United States District Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered that Dodge serve three years’ supervised release after his incarceration ends. In addition, Dodge agreed to forfeit $5,000 in lieu of forfeiture of a vehicle used in the conspiracy.

According to court records, Dodge was one of 13 Northeast Kingdom residents indicted by a federal grand jury for methamphetamine-related crimes. From July to December 2011, Dodge supplied more than 15 grams of pseudoephedrine to codefendants Carl Coker, 37, and Frank Santaw, 30, both of Island Pond, for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Dodge also transported others to obtain the precursor and assisted Santaw in the disposal of waste from a methamphetamine lab. Coker and Santaw manufactured between 7.5 and 13.5 grams of methamphetamine from the pseudoephedrine supplied by Dodge.

Dodge’s twelve co-defendants have pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine-related charge: Coker, to a charge of conspiracy to manufacture five grams or more of methamphetamine, resulting in a sentence of 100 months imprisonment on January 28, 2013; Santaw, to a charge of conspiracy to manufacture five grams or more of methamphetamine, resulting in a sentence of 78 months imprisonment on November 5, 2012; Mandy Darlene Johnson, 31, of Island Pond, to a charge of conspiracy to manufacture (punishable by not more than 20 years imprisonment); Honey Lee Lacourse, 33, of Troy, Richard Lavoie, 58, of Island Pond, Jaime Cross, 30, of Island Pond, and James Castrogiovanni, of Brighton, to a charge of conspiracy to possess or distribute pseudoephedrine, a List I chemical, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine, resulting in sentences of time served plus supervised release; Alicia Ovitt, 27, of Morgan, and Roger Chaffee, 37, of North Troy, to a charge of conspiracy to possess or distribute pseudoephedrine, a List I chemical, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it would be used to manufacture (punishable by not more than 20 years imprisonment);
Charles Thomas Amerine, III, 34, of Island Pond, to a charge of possession of any equipment, chemical, product, or material which may be used to manufacture a controlled substance, knowing, intending, or having reasonable cause to believe that it will be used to manufacture (punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment); Cheryl Hackett, 45, of Oxford, Maine, to a misdemeanor charge of possession of methamphetamine, resulting in a sentence of 12 months’ probation on December 3, 2012; Joshua Ovitt, 23, of Island Pond, to a misdemeanor charge of purchasing more than nine grams of pseudoephedrine during a 30-day period, resulting in a sentence of 12 months’ probation on November 28, 2012.

These crimes were investigated by the Vermont Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Vermont State Police Field Force Division, the United

States Marshals Service, and the Brighton Police Department provided assistance.