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Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that, on May 18, 2015, Daniel Ayala, 24, of Burlington, Vermont, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after his guilty plea to charges that he conspired to distribute heroin, cocaine base, and marijuana, and conspired to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered that Ayala serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
According to court records, Ayala sold drugs in the Burlington area from approximately April 2012 until his arrest on August 4, 2014. When he was arrested on August 4, 2014, Ayala was using his apartment on Spruce Street in Burlington as a base for drug dealing. When law enforcement searched that apartment, they found cocaine packaged for sale, a loaded semi-automatic handgun, and digital scales, among other evidence. At the time of the search, Ayala shared the apartment with his girlfriend and the couple’s young daughter.
For his crimes, Ayala faced a statutory maximum term of 20 years in prison on each count. The United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are advisory, recommended that Ayala receive a prison term between 57 and 71 months. In determining that a more lenient sentence was appropriate in this case, Judge Sessions considered Ayala’s difficult childhood and his lack of a serious criminal record, among other factors.
Acting United States Attorney Eugenia A.P. Cowles commended the efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Vermont Drug Task Force, the Burlington Police Department, and the South Burlington Police Department for their coordinated efforts in this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Doherty, Jr. Ayala is represented by Steven Barth of the Federal Public Defender’s Office.