Follows jailing of T.J. Blaise for 14 ounces of cocaine charge

Federal authorities have charged an Addison County woman with maintaining a drug premises at her home to help out-of-state drug traffickers.

Sara Beth Austin, 48, appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Friday afternoon on a criminal complaint that she operated the drug home on Vermont 22A in the town of Addison during the month of August, according to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

Austin told investigators that she allowed out-of-state drug traffickers to use her residence in Addison – a community of 1,354 residents — to distribute, use and package drugs, an affidavit from a HSI special agent said.

The raid at Austin’s home followed the arrest of Thomas “T.J.” Blaise, 44, of Vergennes on a criminal complaint that he had possessed nearly one pound of cocaine with the intent to distribute it, records show. Police also found digital scales and a large amount of currency.

His arrest came during a traffic stop by Vergennes Police that happened minutes after he had left Austin’s home on Tuesday night, records show.

A federal judge has ordered Blaise held pending further proceedings.

A third defendant, Damien DeJesus, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y. also appeared in federal court Friday to face a felony charge for trying to dispose of cocaine while he was detained at the Vergennes Police Department.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle agreed to requests by the government that both Austin and DeJesus be held at least for the time being.

The home at 4338 Vermont 22A is between the Vergennes city line and the Addison Four Corners Store. While located in Addison, it has a Vergennes mailing address, records show. Austin’s first name is spelled both Sara and Sarah in the court papers.

During the raid, investigators found three loaded handguns with DeJesus linked to one of them, a HSI special agent said in a court affidavit.

Also seized at the home were three kinds of suspected drugs: small amounts of cocaine, marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, along with assorted drug paraphernalia throughout the premises.

DeJesus is charged with corruptly destroying and concealing evidence with the intent to disrupt an official proceeding, the HSI said.

He was asked multiple times if he had any narcotics, weapons or drug paraphernalia on him and he said no, the HSI said. That proved untrue, they said.

DeJesus later asked to use the bathroom at the Vergennes Police Station and once inside, investigators heard the sound of plastic crinkling, HSI said. He flushed the toilet before officers could get into the room, but they later found multiple white crystal type substances on top of the toilet tank, records show.

He also had a wad of paper towels in his left hand as they walked him back to his holding cell. The towels were seized and opened with police finding a sandwich size plastic bag with small torn twist baggies inside with traces of a white crystal-like substance, records show.

When questioned about the seized items, DeJesus said he had no idea what investigators were asking him about. Another search of DeJesus was conducted and investigators found a bag of multiple whet crystal-like substances next to his feet, police said. He maintained he also knew nothing about that bag either, records show.

DeJesus later told investigators that he was a user of crack cocaine, HSI said. He said he flushed the drugs because he feared police would find it if he discarded it in the trash.

Thomas “T.J.” Blaise is well-known to police through the years, including 8 previous drug convictions, records show. He also has two pending charges for driving while under the influence of drugs in Addison County, records show.

The feds stepped in for his eighth case in 2008 and imposed more than 7 years for selling drugs while he was serving weekends on a state sentence for a drug conviction.

Blaise had left Austin’s home on Tuesday night and was stopped for suspected DUI drugs when he was unable to keep his 2010 white BMW in the proper lane on Vermont 22A as he drove into Vergennes, police said. As police processed Blaise they seized a large quantity of cocaine from him and that helped them obtain a search warrant for Austin’s residence on the west side of Vermont 22A, records show. They hit the residence Thursday morning.

Austin and DeJesus were both lodged in prisons in South Burlington and St. Albans on Thursday evening to await their federal court hearings.

Defense lawyer Mark Berman, on behalf of Austin, said in court Friday he would not contest the motion to detain her, but said he would likely return to court after he had pulled together a possible release plan.

Doyle noted the Pre-Trial Services Office had been unable to complete Austin’s pre-hearing interview and the court needed to carry the case over until next week.

Doyle told Austin she would be entitled to a probable cause hearing on Aug. 29 unless a grand jury indicts in the interim.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher asked that the detention motion for DeJesus be delayed until at least Monday to provide investigators time to track more background information about him and the new drug case.

Lasher noted DeJesus faces up to 20 years in prison on the felony drug charge, if convicted, and he may have gun charges added.

Lasher maintained there were no conditions or combination of conditions that would ensure DeJesus would return for future court hearings.

Defense lawyer Jason Sawyer argued that DeJesus had no money and no passport so he would not flee. Doyle set his detention hearing for Tuesday afternoon.

State judges had done virtually nothing about Blaise’s criminal record. Blaise has seven misdemeanor drug convictions, and he never spent time in prison until he was sentenced in 2008 to 10 days on weekends for a drug conviction, federal court records show.

While he was serving his “weekly interrupt” sentence on weekends, Blaise continued to sell drugs, court records note.

The Vermont Drug Task Force bought 14 ounces of cocaine over six purchases between Jan. 7, 2008 and Feb. 29, 2008, records show. The final sale came in his driveway in Addison on a Friday as he was due to report to the Addison County Jail for another part of his weekend sentence, records show.

During a post-arrest interview in 2008 with the Vermont Drug Task Force, Blaise admitted he was bringing 4 to 6 ounces of cocaine from New York to Vermont every 4 or 5 days over a two-year period, federal court records showed.

In light of the lenient sentences in state courts, the feds opted to take the drug case to ensure a stiff sentence. They also charged him with two illegal gun purchases, records note.

Blaise was 27 years-old at the time, had limited employment and had been involved in illegal drug activity for most of his adult life, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Perella said in his sentencing memo.

He said Blaise had a lengthy criminal record that included seven misdemeanor drug convictions and three probation violations.

“The defendant has consistently received lenient treatment in state court, including an opportunity to participate in the Court Division Program and probated sentences,” Perella told Judge William K. Sessions III in the sentencing memo.

“The sentence imposed should seek to achieve both specific and general deterrence,” Perella wrote.

Then-Assistant Federal Defender Elizabeth D. Mann had proposed the mandatory 5-year prison term was enough to punish Blaise for the drug and gun crimes.

Mann noted that Blaise always showed up for court hearings. She said he cooperated with investigators by providing details about his supplier, the methods he used to obtain the illegal drugs and who was on his customer list.

Blaise admitted to selling cocaine and also with making false statements during the purchase of two firearms.

The federal sentencing guidelines had proposed a penalty between 108 and 135 months, but Judge Sessions went with 87 months, followed by four years of supervised release. He was released from supervision in June 2019.

The first 60 months was needed due to a mandatory 5-year sentence for the drug trafficking conviction, Perella said in court papers.

About a year after he got off supervision, Blaise wrote to a judge asking that his federal drug and gun convictions be expunged. He said he had behaved in prison and while under supervision. Judge Sessions rejected the request.