October 5, 2009

MASSACHUSETTS MEN INDICTED FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on October 1, 2009, Brenton T. Mackinnon, 31, and Justin D. Morin, 21, both residents of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Burlington, Vermont. The seven-count indictment charges that the men distributed and conspired to distribute heroin. The pair’s alleged heroin conspiracy involved more than 100 grams of the drug. Mackinnon and Morin were also charged with possessing with intent to distribute cocaine.

According to court documents, between July 2009 and September 15, 2009, Mackinnon and Morin sold heroin to an undercover agent with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on four occasions. On a separate occasion during the same time period, they also sold heroin to a confidential source working with the DEA. DEA arrested the men in Hartford, Vermont on September 15, 2009.

Mackinnon made an initial appearance in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont on September 16, 2009 and was ordered detained pending resolution of the case. Morin’s initial appearance was on September 18, 2009 and he was subsequently ordered released under the supervision of the United States Probation Office.

If convicted, the men face a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence, a potential forty-year maximum prison sentence, and up to a $250,000 fine. Their actual sentences, in the event they are convicted, will be determined in accordance with the federal Sentencing Guidelines. The United States Attorney, Tristram J. Coffin, emphasized that the charges contained in the indictment are accusations only and that the defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.