A father and son have both pleaded guilty to being part of a major crime wave

A father and son have both pleaded guilty to being part of a major crime wave in the Northeast Kingdom involving drugs, guns, assaults and other incidents. Dante “Pops” Flowers Sr., 47, of Hartford, Conn., and his son Dante “Fresh” Flowers Jr., 29, of Wethersfield, Conn., admitted their guilt while appearing for separate hearings in U.S. District Court in Burlington. They admitted to conspiring with each other, and with Jayquan “Jay” Flintroy, 28, of Hartford, Conn., along with others to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine between January 2020 and November 2020. The father and son also pleaded to a second felony charge for carrying a firearm in the fall of 2020 while trafficking drugs as part of the conspiracy in Vermont and elsewhere. Burlington lawyer Mark Oettinger, who represents Dante Flowers Jr., told the court the plea agreement for his client is designed to be a global settlement involving state criminal charges in Orleans County. Oettinger said after the hearing he does not represent Flowers in the state case and was unsure if the agreement was for the Orleans County cases to be dismissed or if any possible sentence would run concurrently. The final penalties for both Flowers in federal court will be based on a combination of factors, including the presentence investigation report, the arguments of lawyers, and the calculations under the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory.