United States Drug Enforcement Administration

RUTLAND, Vt. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Thomas Keith, 42, of Bennington, Vermont, was sentenced on September 24, 2015 in United States District Court in Rutland to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Keith also forfeited $1,084 in connection with his drug distribution activities. This sentence followed Keith’s conviction on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford also ordered Keith to pay a $200 special assessment.

In March 2011, law enforcement intercepted a package addressed to Keith that contained approximately 367 grams of cocaine and 80 grams of heroin. Subsequently, as part of a Vermont Drug Task Force investigation, law enforcement conducted three controlled purchases of heroin from Keith in April and May 2014. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Keith’s Bennington residence on May 16, 2014, finding 75 bags of heroin, drug paraphernalia, and $1,084 in cash.

This matter was investigated by the Vermont Drug Task Force, with the assistance of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bennington Police Department, the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles.