Vermont man gets 5 years in prison for drug trafficking

Shawne Wickham, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read
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Jul. 25—A Vermont man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.

Damien Rousseau Jr., 31, formerly of Vershire, Vermont, previously had pleaded guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court in Concord, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office, which prosecuted the case.

The case dates to May 2022, when security personnel at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon determined that Rousseau was in a patient's room with a bag containing a small quantity of narcotics and a drug ledger, according to the release.

Lebanon police were called, and officers found Rousseau's BMW in the medical center's parking lot, with drugs and paraphernalia inside. A police dog trained to detect narcotics also alerted at the vehicle, officials said.

Rousseau was arrested at the scene and released on bail.

The next day, however, Lebanon police found him trespassing in their vehicle impound lot, officials said. After finding him hiding in the BMW, officers arrested him and executed a search warrant on the vehicle.

Police seized 436 grams of methamphetamine, nearly 100 grams of cocaine and 10.5 grams of fentanyl, as well as loaded firearms, ammunition, cash and silver and gold coins.

U.S. Attorney Jane Young said her office is committed to prosecuting drug traffickers to the fullest extent of the law. "Methamphetamine and cocaine are insidiously dangerous drugs that continue to ravage New Hampshire," she said.

Brian D. Boyle, special agent in charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration, which investigated the case, praised the collaboration among local, state and federal law enforcement.

"Illegal drug distribution ravages the very foundations of our families and communities, so every time we take these poisons off the streets, lives are saved," Boyle said.

Assisting in the investigation were the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lebanon police department and Vermont state police.