United States Drug Enforcement Administration

RUTLAND, Vt. - John J. Arvanitis, 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 Alan H. Willis, II, of Tinmouth, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to 37 months imprisonment on his guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. Chief Judge Reiss also ordered that Willis serve two years on supervised release after his incarceration ends. Willis has been detained since his arraignment.

According to court documents, Willis trafficked between 700 and 1000 grams of heroin in the Rutland area from summer 2012 to February 2013. In late January 2013, the Vermont Drug Task (VDTF) used a confidential informant to make two controlled purchases of heroin from Willis, the first at his home and the second in the parking lot of Rutland’s Diamond Run Mall. On February 4, 2013, the VDTF and several other agencies executed a search warrant at Willis’s residence, seizing 1500 bags of heroin and $4800 in cash.

Originally charged in Rutland Superior Court by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, Willis was first indicted by a federal grand jury on April 24, 2013, leading to dismissal of the state charges. On July 24, 2013, based on a joint investigation by the VDTF, the Drug Enforcement (DEA), and the Federal Bureau of (FBI), the grand jury returned a superseding indictment expanding the temporal scope of the conspiracy and charging Joshua Rose, 21, Devon Cruz, 29, Charles Hercules, 23, all of New York; Evan Murphy, 23, and Jean Marie Phillips, 47, both of Rutland along with Willis, as conspirators. On January 24, 2014, Phillips entered a guilty plea to a charge of aiding and abetting Rose’s possession with intent to distribute heroin. She is scheduled for sentencing on May 9, 2014. Today, Murphy entered a guilty plea to the conspiracy charge in the superseding indictment. Murphy is scheduled for sentencing on August 26, 2014. Rose, Cruz, and Hercules are awaiting trial. United States Attorney Coffin commended the joint investigation by the VDTF, DEA, and FBI, and thanked the Vermont Attorney General’s Office for its cooperation. Rutland attorney Elizabeth Mann represented Willis. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig S. Nolan.