A Caledonia County man that operated a drug trafficking has been sentenced

 A Caledonia County man that operated a drug trafficking on the so-called “Heroin Highway” in Stannard has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison. Eric Colson III, 25, was told he will be under federal supervision for four years once he is freed from the 68-month prison term imposed in the high-profile trafficking case. Colson was the main leader of a long-running drug conspiracy which led to the distribution of extraordinary quantities of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in the Northeast Kingdom. The Colson drug distribution operation, which included his younger brother, became so notorious that local residents referred to Stannard Mountain as “Dope Hill” and even posted signs reading “Heroin Highway” on the road to the Colson residence. One informant reported he or she never needed to call ahead to buy drugs at the Colson home: customers knew the two brothers had regular business hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at their Stannard home. He drew in his younger brother, Gage Colson, 23, who was sentenced in July to 35 months in federal prison, followed by four years of federal supervised release.