By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First

BURLINGTON — An Addison County man, who sold cocaine to an undercover drug officer in 2008 while serving a jail sentence on weekends for another drug case, is back in legal trouble again – for drugs.

Thomas “T.J.” Blaise, 44, of Vergennes appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Thursday afternoon for a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, according to a criminal complaint filed by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

Blaise was found with nearly one pound of cocaine following a motor vehicle stop by Vergennes City Police on Tuesday night, records show.  A digital scale was found under the driver’s seat, along with a large amount of currency loose inside a bag and more concealed in a sock, HSI said.

Vergennes Patrol Sgt. Mark Barber ordered Blaise to pull over after he had trouble keeping his car in its traffic lane multiple times on Vermont 22A (West Main Street) near Hopkins Road, records show.  Barber eventually arrested Blaise for a charge of driving while under the influence of drugs and issued him a citation to appear in state criminal court this fall, Vergennes Police reported.

Blaise is well known to drug investigators.   

He was arrested Feb. 29, 2008 and charged with arranging the sale of about one pound of cocaine to an undercover drug task force officer that day and with lying during the purchase of two firearms, court records show.  Blaise misrepresented his drug use and prior convictions when he purchased two handguns in January 2008, the Rutland Herald reported.

The drug sale to the officer on a Friday came in between Blaise serving a state prison sentence on weekends at the old Addison County Jail on Court Street imposed by a judge for a drug conviction, records show.  The cocaine sale was in Blaise’s driveway on Vermont 125 in Addison in 2008, records show.

He “was caught selling drugs during the weekdays while free from jail,” a police spokesman said. 

Court papers show Blaise was charged in federal court in the February 2008 case with selling between 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) and 5 kilograms (11 pounds), the Herald reported.  It was during his off time from his state prison sentence and his arrest that he made the sales, the newspaper said.

Blaise eventually pleaded guilty in federal court on Sept. 24, 2008 to felony charges for drug trafficking and illegal gun purchases and agreed to forfeit $1,703 seized by investigators.  Federal Judge William K. Sessions III imposed more than 7 years in prison.   

Once Blaise completed his 87-month federal prison sentence, he also served four years of supervised release conditions until June 17, 2019.

He drafted a letter Sept. 28, 2020 petitioning the federal court to have his two felony convictions expunged from his criminal record on the grounds that he had behaved in recent years and “my life has changed and improved for the better.”

Blaise had been working for a car dealer in Meuthen, Mass. and was living in the Manchester N.H. while still being supervised by federal probation.  He wrote he had lost his job, and it would be hard to find new work if employers learned about his criminal record.  He reported he had a dog for emotional support and owned a home.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Perella opposed the request in January 2021 and noted there was no provision for the expungement in federal court.  Judge Sessions agreed in June 2021 and issued a one-line order:  “The Court lacks the legal authority to grant the requested relief.”

The latest drug charge stems from about 14 ounces of cocaine that was found during a traffic stop made by Sgt. Barber about 8:30 Tuesday night, records show.

Blaise was identified as the driver and Barber spotted a bong (water pipe), roughly 18 to 24 inches long on the floorboard, HSI said in court papers.  Barber, a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) spotted signs of impairment, including bloodshot, watery eyes, mumbled speech and also found drug paraphernalia, records show.

When he got out of his white 2010 BMW, Blaise also had a glass pipe between his legs and the pipe was warm to the touch, Barber reported.

Rutland Town Officer Jimmy Plakas and his K-9 partner, Rooster, were in the area.  Rooster did an external sniff and had a positive alert for the presence of narcotics, Homeland Security Investigations reported.  The car was seized and towed to the Vergennes Police Station.

Barber processed Blaise for suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs and had his blood drawn at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury.  It will be sent for testing, but meanwhile Blaise  is due in Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury in Oct. 20, police said.

It is Blaise’s second arrest for DUI drugs in about 3 months in Addison County. 

State Trooper Taylor Demick said he responded to a vehicle off the north side of Green Street near South Middlebrook Road in Waltham about 1:20 a.m. May 2.  While speaking to Blaise, troopers observed indicators of impairment and located cocaine that had been in Blaise’s possession, Demick told Vermont News First.

Blaise was subsequently placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI – drug and possession of cocaine, police said.  Blaise was transported to the Middlebury Police Department for processing and was eventually issued a citation ordering him into criminal court on June 30 for charges of DUI-drugs and cocaine possession.