October 28, 2009

FORMER UVM STUDENT SENTENCED FOR COCAINE DISTRIBUTION AT FRATERNITY HOUSE

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on Monday, October 26, 2009, Bent Gunnar Cardan, 25, of San Mateo, California, was sentenced to a combined term of imprisonment of 6 months, 4 years of supervised release, a $4,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment for his role in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine from in or about March 2006 until April 27, 2007, when he was arrested.

According to court records, Cardan was the main supplier in a cocaine trafficking operation at the Lambda Iota Fraternity House affiliated with the University of Vermont. A University of Vermont graduate, Cardan acted as source of supply for the House Manager at the Lambda Iota Fraternity House and later the Fraternity President, Christopher Duncan of Copiague, New York, who also has pleaded guilty and been sentenced. Beginning in or about September 2006, Cardan kept a safe in Duncan’s room at the Fraternity House to store drugs and money. Cardan also had other stash houses in the Burlington, Vermont area in which he stored drugs and money. Court records further indicate than many drug transactions took place at the Fraternity House. In the Spring 2007, law enforcement was able to infiltrate the cocaine distribution ring associated with the Fraternity House through an undercover investigation. The drug trafficking activity continued until the arrest of Duncan, Cardan, and another fraternity member on April 27, 2007.

One of Cardan’s principal suppliers was Allen Page of New Haven, Connecticut, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges last year and is currently serving a 70-month sentence.

A civil action seeking the forfeiture of the Lambda Iota Fraternity House by the United States also is pending.

The investigation in this matter was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Burlington Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Heather E. Ross prosecuted this case and the defendant is represented by Mark Kaplan, Esq.