Department of Justice

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated today that Jerry Romero, 64, of Milton was sentenced by Judge William K. Sessions III to 90 months of imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release. Romero had previously pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute both heroin and 28 grams or more of cocaine base and agreed to the 90-month sentence.

 

According to Court records, in September 2018, Romero was living at 77 Beartrap Road in Milton, Vermont. On September 4, 2018, the Milton Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) executed a search warrant at Romero’s home. Upon entry, a law enforcement agent asked Romero where the drugs were and Romero responded that they were in the bathroom trashcan. Law enforcement then recovered approximately 61 grams of cocaine base and 480 bags of heroin from the trashcan. Law enforcement also recovered a .380 Glock pistol and ammunition from a gun safe. Romero had the combination to this safe in his wallet.

 

At the time he committed this drug trafficking offense, Romero was on federal supervised release related to a prior federal drug trafficking conviction in 2017. Accordingly, the 90-month sentence was broken down into two parts: 66 months for the new drug offense and 24 months, to be served consecutively, for violating his terms of federal supervised release. From 2002 to 2017, Romero incurred four other federal felony convictions, three involving drug trafficking and one involving unlawful possession of a firearm.

 

“Working with federal law enforcement partners, the Milton Police Department were able to establish a case involving Jerry Romero and address the concerns of Milton residents.” Stated Page 2 of 2 Milton Police Chief Steve Laroche. He praised the efforts of the citizens of Milton for providing valuable information, based on “See Something Say Something”, which lead to the arrest of Jerry Romero. “This investigation resulted in the largest amount of crack cocaine and heroin seized in the department’s history”, according to Chief Laroche.

 

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Milton Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jon Ophardt and Joe Perella. Romero is represented by Steven Barth of the Federal Public Defenders Office.