Eight people were scheduled to be arraigned on drug-related felony charges Monday in Rutland criminal court.
Not all of the people cited to be in court Monday were there. Warrants were issued for some of those who weren’t there.
Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy said it wasn’t unusual for the Vermont Drug Task Force to “bring us a bunch of charges at one time.”
“These are pretty recent cases, which I think is helpful to try and get these folks into court quickly after the alleged criminal behavior,” she said.
Those appearing on the arraignment list on Monday included:
— Theodore William Thompson, 44, who was listed in court records as either transient or a Rutland resident, was scheduled to be arraigned on a felony count of selling cocaine. Police accused Thompson of selling cocaine in Rutland in February.
A $1,000 warrant was issued for Thompson after he failed to appear in court Monday. If convicted of the charge, Thompson could be sentenced to up to five years in jail.
— Brian Bruso Sr., 60, of Fair Haven, was arraigned on two felony counts of selling heroin. Police accused Bruso of selling heroin twice, on April 3 and April 9.
Bruso was released without bail after pleading not guilty to the charges. If convicted of the charges, Bruso could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.
— Brittany Fields, 27, of Rutland, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday on a felony count of selling heroin, a felony count of selling cocaine and one misdemeanor count of possessing cocaine. Police accused Fields of selling heroin and cocaine in June in Rutland and possessing cocaine in August in Rutland.
Fields failed to appear in court on Monday, according to court records, and the court was scheduled to reschedule the arraignment for Oct. 7. If convicted of the charges against her, Fields could be sentenced to up to 11 years in jail.
— Cassandra Johnson, 32, of Rutland, was arraigned on Monday on one felony count of selling heroin and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest. Police accused Johnson of selling heroin in Rutland in February and resisting arrest in Rutland in August.
Johnson was released without bail on Monday. If convicted of the charges against her, she could be sentenced to up to six years in jail.
— Zachary J. LaPoint, 29, of Rutland, failed to appear in court on Monday but came to Rutland criminal court on Tuesday where he was arraigned on a single felony count of selling cocaine. Police accused LaPoint of making the sale in Rutland in May.
LaPoint was released without bail on Tuesday. If convicted of the charge against him, he could be sentenced to up to five years in jail.
— Joshua E. Reed, 39, of Brandon, was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on four felony counts of selling heroin and one misdemeanor count of possessing cocaine. Police accused Reed of selling heroin four times in Rutland in October 2018, twice in May and once in June and possessing cocaine in Rutland in August.
Reed failed to appear for arraignment according to court records and was ordered to appear in court instead on Oct. 21. If convicted of all the charges against him, Reed could be sentenced to up to 21 years in jail.
— Michael D. Shively, 31, of Rutland, was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on one felony count of selling heroin, one felony count of selling cocaine and one misdemeanor count of possessing heroin.
Shively failed to appear for the arraignment, according to court records, and will be ordered to come to court on Oct. 14 instead. If convicted of the charges against him, Shively could be sentenced to up to 11 years in jail.
— Steven A. Stone, 49, of Rutland, was arraigned Monday on four felony counts of selling cocaine. Police accused Stone of selling cocaine four times in Rutland, once in April and three times in May.
Stone was released without bail after his arraignment. If convicted of all the charges against him, Stone could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Kennedy said she hoped the number of cases assured the community that local law-enforcement agencies were working hard to slow the amount of drugs coming into Rutland County.
“The task force and other police agencies are constantly working to figure out who’s bringing drugs into the community, who’s trying to get folks addicted to the drugs. That’s constantly happening. (Monday’s arraignments were) just a result of that work,” she said.
patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com
