June 18, 2008

TWO BURLINGTON AREA COLLEGE STUDENTS SENTENCED TO PRISON TERMS FOR COCAINE DISTRIBUTION

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Steven O'Reilly, 22, of Pembroke, MA, and Raymond Stenson, 22, of Burlington, Vermont were sentenced today for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine. United States District Court Judge J. Gavan Murtha sentenced O'Reilly to six months imprisonment and six months in a halfway house. Stenson was sentenced by Judge Murtha to one month of imprisonment and two months of home detention. Judge Murtha also sentenced O'Reilly and Stenson to three years of supervised release. As part of the plea agreement, O'Reilly agreed to forfeit a 2004 Infinity SUV Q56-V8, $5,700 in cash seized as drug proceeds, and a diamond watch.

According to court records, in the fall of 2004 O'Reilly began his freshman year at St. Michael's College in Colchester and almost immediately began selling marijuana, ecstasy, and later cocaine in the Burlington area. O'Reilly would purchase his cocaine from a source in Massachusetts. Stenson, a Champlain College student, purchased cocaine from O'Reilly and sold it in the Burlington area. Court records also reveal that in the fall of 2006, Christopher Wessling, 20, also a Champlain College student at that time, agreed to let O'Reilly use his apartment on South Willard St. in Burlington as a stash house. Over the course of the conspiracy, which ended in mid-November of 2006 (at that time search warrants were executed at O'Reilly and Wessling's apartments), O'Reilly sold approximately 5 kilograms of cocaine in the Burlington area. Stenson sold over 500 grams supplied to him by O'Reilly.

In imposing sentence, Judge Murtha cited O'Reilly's and Stenson's lack of criminal history, and their substantial rehabilitation efforts since their arrest in November 2006, as among the factors supporting the sentences he imposed. A third defendant, Christopher Wessling, 20, of Burlington, Vermont, has pled guilty but has not yet been sentenced.

This case was jointly investigated by the Burlington Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Perella. Steven O'Reilly is represented by Eric Miller, Esq of Burlington; Raymond Stenson is represented by Frank Twarog, Esq. of Burlington; and Christopher Wessling is represented by Alan Baum of Studio City, California.