A former Essex County man has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison

A former Essex County man has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for his part in a 10-member drug conspiracy that was responsible for the distribution of fentanyl and crack cocaine in Vermont and elsewhere in 2022. Jeremy Allin, 54, now of Lancaster, N.H., will also be on federal supervised release for 3 years once he is discharged from prison. Allin, formerly of Lunenberg, pleaded guilty in December to a plea bargain to conspiring with others to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine. The conspiracy was headed by one of his co-defendants, “J.C.” Ortiz, 30, of Springfield, Mass.  The long-term investigation was sparked by the Vermont Drug Task Force and the ATF. They were assisted by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the Vermont State Police, both the Orleans and Essex County Sheriff’s Departments, Newport City Police, aviators with the Air & Marine Operations component of United States Customs & Border Protection, and the FBI. Court records show the other eight other defendants were: Clair Delandes, 66, of Island Pond, is due for sentencing this week. Margaret Radford, 55, of Newport Center, received a 12-month and 1-day prison term, followed by three years of federal supervised release. Hayley McDonald, 27, of Derby and Mary Rhodes, 47, of North Troy, received time-served sentences, with each being placed on three years of supervised release. Angela Birk, 43, of Newport, was sentenced to 3 months in prison with credit for time served and to be run concurrently with any state prison sentence. She also was placed under three years of federal supervision. Loretta Poquette, 47, of Norton, Ronald Braun, 45, of Lowell and Jessica Ward, 46, of Lowell, are still waiting for sentencings in their cases.