Newport - page 32

NEWPORT — A 24-year-old man from Newport was arrested in Massachusetts after police say he was found with drugs in his vehicle and dove off during the stop, dragging the trooper alongside.

Justin R. Morgan, of Newport, is facing a slew of charges following the incident.

Police say they stopped a 2006 Mazda 6 after observing Morgan commit motor vehicle violations on I-91.

As the state trooper approached the vehicle, Springfield Mass Police Officer Dan Cintron stopped to offer assistance if needed.

The trooper spoke to Morgan and asked for his driver’s license. While speaking with the occupants, the trooper observed a small bag of crack cocaine.

He opened the driver’s door and ordered Morgan out as he placed one handcuff on him. Police say he refused to comply, pulled away, put the car in drive and began to drive forward, dragging the trooper alongside.

With his body half inside the car and fighting for control, the trooper says he was able to get the vehicle into park, but Morgan immediately pulled it back into drive and began forward again.

Fearing he would roll out and be ran over, the trooper moved himself completely inside the vehicle, still fighting for control.

At this point, Officer Cintron was alongside the passenger side also ordering Morgan to stop.

After approximately 300 feet, police were able to take control of the vehicle and get it stopped, as Officer Cintron pulled Morgan through the passenger side door onto the pavement.

The passengers were subsequently identified as Joseph A. Peets, 30, of Morrisville, and Robert G. Fitzgerald, 26, of Eden.

All three men were subsequently found to be in possession of approximately 800 bags of heroin.

All three were placed under arrest and transported to the State Police Springfield Barracks for booking.

Morgan was charged with the following:

Heroin/Morphine/Opium, Trafficking in (approximately 20 grams)
2. Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law
3. Assault and Battery with Dangerous Weapon (motor vehicle)
4. Assault and Battery on a Police Officer
5. Resisting Arrest
6. Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle
7. Identify Self, Motor Vehicle Operator Refuse to
8. Marked Lanes Violation;
9. Number Plate Violation.

Passengers Fitzgerald and Peets were both charged with the following:
1. Heroin/Morphine/Opium, Trafficking in (approximately 20 grams)
2. Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law

Morgan was held on $50,000 bail.

DERBY — Police are saying that an arrest warrant has been issued for a man from Derby who was reported missing last week, as they now believe that he may have fled the area as he is facing sexual assault charges.

Peter Gaudreau, 62, was last seen at his residence on the North Derby Road on Friday night, authorities say.

A search of the fields and wooded area behind his residence was carried out on Tuesday, and he was not located.

An arrest warrant was then issued for Gaudreau for violation of conditions of release that had been set as a result of his arrest in 2014 for sexual assault.

In 2014, Gaudreau was charged with sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16. Police say that the offenses took place in multiple towns across Orleans County, over the course of four years.

His next scheduled court appearance was set for July 2016.

The investigation to locate Gaudreau is ongoing, and police say leads are being followed up.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vermont State Police in Derby, at 802-334-8881.

NEWPORT — Two men from Newport were picked up by police in Brattleboro after authorities say a routine traffic stop turned up a large amount of heroin.

Shawn Gardner, 30, and Brandon Sheltra, 20, are being held after police say they say found 418 bags of suspected heroin in their possession.

The incident took place on I-91 north at exit 1 in the town of Brattleboro, when a trooper from the Vermont State Police pulled their vehicle over for speeding.

Police say they suspected Gardner of operating while impaired by drugs, and that they found the heroin after searching the vehicle.

Both were arrested.

Police say Gardner faces charges of DUI-drugs, possession of heroin, trafficking heroin, and importation of heroin.

Sheltra faces charges of possession of heroin, trafficking heroin, and importation of heroin.

Both were ordered held on bail, and taken to the Vermont Department of Corrections in Springfield.

NEWPORT — The Newport Town School was recently selected as the Spring 2016 winner of the Educate/Innovate Grant Program, funded by the Vermont Lottery.

The program will provide 25 iPads to the school in support of their proposal, which was a student-selected project meant to address what they perceive as a problem in their community.

The students will be working with Frontiere Animal Shelter in Orleans to help streamline and promote pet adoptions.

The project will integrate multiple core curriculums as they use video, editing, writing and marketing tools to help the local shelter accelerate pet adoptions over time.

During guidance class, sixth graders researched possible projects before voting on the one that ended up being submitted for the grant.

“Our students are learning the importance of giving back to the community, and what we learned while pitching ideas was that they are really interested in helping animals,” School Counselor Sarah Feldman said.

Four out of the five projects students came up with were based around helping animals.

Students will collect data and monitor their success as they develop the program.

Reviewers with the Vermont Lottery and Vermont Agency of Education say the proposal was a favorite of theirs because it represented a student-identified issue within their community.

NEWPORT — A fugitive wanted by the State of Vermont for Escape, was picked up last Friday in Newport by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Dennis Rose, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, was arrested late in the day on April 8, 2016.

Rose was wanted by the State of Vermont, Department of Corrections, Burlington Probation and Parole for Escape. His underlying charge related to his escape is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police say Rose is no stranger to the criminal justice system. He has a significant criminal history which started when he was seventeen years old.

His extensive criminal history reveals offenses in the State of Vermont and the State of New York to include a Federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. His additional convictions include heroin and cocaine sales, sale of a controlled substance on school grounds, aggravated assault with a weapon, 1st degree aggravated domestic assault, reckless endangerment, false information to Law Enforcement, Parole violations, and Probation violations.

On January 12, 2016, Burlington Probation and Parole requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in locating and apprehending Rose, as his whereabouts were unknown at the time.

Deputy U.S. Marshals gathered information on Rose’s possible whereabouts, and he was arrested without incident in Newport.

Rose had been a fugitive since January 11, 2016.

It is alleged that Rose was actively evading arrest from Law Enforcement and subsequently fled the Burlington area.

This arrest was the result of a culmination of investigative efforts by the U.S. Marshals, Vermont State Police, and the Newport Police Department.

NEWPORT — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against Jay Peak Resort and related businesses allegedly misusing millions of dollars raised through investments solicited under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.  

The SEC’s case was unsealed today in federal court in Miami, and the court has appointed a receiver over the companies to prevent any further spending of investor assets.

The SEC alleges that Bill Stenger, Ariel Quiros, and their companies made false statements and omitted key information while raising more than $350 million from investors to construct ski resort facilities and as well as the proposed AnC Bio facility in Newport. 

Investors were told they were investing in one of several projects connected to Jay Peak Inc., a ski resort operated by Stenger and Quiros, and their money would only be used to finance that specific project. 

Instead, in Ponzi-like fashion, money from investors in later projects was misappropriated to fund deficits in earlier projects.  More than $200 million was allegedly used for other-than-stated purposes, including $50 million spent on Quiros’s personal expenses and in other ways never disclosed to investors.

“This is obviously a difficult day for Vermont and for the many people, myself included, who are so invested in growing jobs and economic opportunity in the Northeast Kingdom,” said Gov. Shumlin. “Most of all, this is a difficult day for the hundreds of employees in the Northeast Kingdom who rely on Jay Peak, Q Burke, and the related projects that appeared to hold so much promise.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, Quiros improperly tapped investor funds for such things as the purchase of a luxury condominium, payment of his income taxes and other taxes unrelated to the investments, and acquisition of an unrelated ski resort.

“The alleged fraud ran the gamut from false statements to deceptive financial transactions to outright theft,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  “As alleged in our complaint, the defendants diverted millions of EB-5 investor dollars to their own pockets, leaving little money for construction of the research facility investors were told would be built and thereby putting the investors’ funds and their immigration petitions in jeopardy.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Quiros, Stenger, Jay Peak, and a company owned by Quiros called Q Resorts Inc. as well as seven limited partnerships and their general partner companies with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.  

Four other companies are named as relief defendants in the SEC’s complaint for the purpose of recovering investor funds transferred into their accounts.  The SEC seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest.  The agency also seeks conduct-based injunctive relief against Quiros and Stenger along with an officer-and-director bar against Quiros.

“Like Governor Shumlin, I am stunned and disappointed with the SEC report on the allegations of fraud in the Northeast Kingdom EB5 projects,” Newport Mayor Paul Monette said. “We will continue to monitor these developments to evaluate the impact on the Newport City projects.”

NEWPORT — Recently released documents by the state show that some investors in the AnC Bio Vermont project, scheduled to open in the fall of 2017 in Newport, are asking for their money back.

According to a memo sent by Bill Stenger to state regulators back on March 15, investor’s funds currently held in escrow will need to be released not only to refund investors pulling out, but to proceed with construction planned for this spring.

The money held in escrow is part of an agreement with the state that new investor funds solicited after March 2015 be held while the state conducts a financial review of the AnC Bio project.

“We have at this time investors that have requested refunds of their AnC Bio investment as part of their rescission rights, granted them by Commissioner Donegan,” Stenger wrote in the memo. “We must have these funds released in order to refund these investors.”

The project has not yet passed the financial review, and the Department says it still has many questions remaining about how AnC Bio funds have been spent to date.

State regulators have also refused to allow the release of money currently held in escrow to pay back refunds, because that money is not in the escrow account, having been raised before March 2015.

As of January 2015, the project had 128 investors, with a total of $71 million raised.

“We agree that the AnC Bio investors who have withdrawn from the project are entitled to a refund of their money,” Susan Donegan, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, wrote in a memo to Stanger on March 25. “However, these investors are not under the amended private placement memorandum and their money is not in the escrow account.”

Stenger also wrote that funds needed to be released from escrow to continue construction at the site in Newport.

“To proceed with construction this spring these investor’s funds must be put to work,” Stenger wrote in the March 15 memo.

Donegan suggests that in both cases the developers will have to use funds already collected and transferred to a company owned by Stenger’s business partner Ariel Quiros called Jay Construction Management.

To read the full version of memos regarding this issue between developer Bill Stenger and Susan Donegan, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, CLICK HERE.

NEWPORT — Bluffside Farm, a 129-acre property located on Indian Point and visible from downtown, is the focus of a conservation project spearheaded by the Vermont Land Trust. Following public walking tours of the property back in January, the land trust has scheduled its first public meeting to learn more about what the community would like to see happen on the land.

Three public meetings will be held in partnership with the Northeastern Vermont Development Association. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, March 29 from 6-9 p.m. at the North Country Career Center in Newport.

It will be facilitated by Karen Geraghty, Economic Development Specialist for the Northeastern Vermont Development Association.

“We hope to tap into local knowledge and excitement to explore how the land can best serve the community,” said Tracy Zschau of the Vermont Land Trust. “The meeting will provide an opportunity to learn more about the property and the role of the land trust, but the main emphasis will be gathering input on the highest and best uses of Bluffside Farm that are aligned with community needs.”

The former dairy farm was headed to auction when the Vermont Land Trust stepped in to buy. The decision was made after a strong show of public support for the purchase during a meeting held in September 2015.

The land trust took ownership of the farm at the end of December.

The farm had been in the Scott family for five generations. There are over 60 acres of tillable and pasture land with good agricultural soils. The entire property is enrolled in Vermont’s Current Use program and the woodland is subject to a forest management plan.

It is the largest remaining agricultural property in Newport City. It also had nearly a mile of undeveloped frontage on Lake Memphremagog, including a natural sand beach area. Over half of the frontage is on Scott’s Cove, directly across from Newport’s Prouty Beach recreation area and campground.

Historically the land has not had any public access.

The Vermont Land Trust does not intend to be the long-term owner of the farm.

The meeting agenda will include breakout groups to explore cultural and natural resources, health and recreation, agriculture and food production, and education. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Additional meetings to further the conversation and begin to focus on possible scenarios for future ownership will follow on April 28 and May 26.

For more information about the process and the meetings visit vlt.org/bluffsidefarm or call VLT Conservation Director Tracy Zschau at (802) 745-6301 or email: tracy@vlt.org.