Seeking longer prison term in upcoming sentencing in fentanyl and crack case
By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First
BURLINGTON – Federal prosecutors say they want to back out of a plea deal with a major fentanyl and crack cocaine dealer when they learned he continued to brazenly help with drug trafficking in Central Vermont from his jail cell after pleading guilty, court records show.
Hussein “Q” Iman, now 21, of Springfield, Mass. managed an organization that distributed significant quantities of fentanyl and crack cocaine in Central Vermont and into the Northeast Kingdom from at least October 2023 and continuing even after his arrest in July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Iman and others in the drug organization possessed firearms and used violence to further their drug trafficking activities, officials said. Iman used juveniles to transport and possess drugs in Vermont, records show.
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested Iman and Joseph Cadorette II, 38, of Williamstown in July 2024 after they knowingly and intentionally conspired with each other and other suspects to unlawfully maintain 2022 Pleasant Street in Williamstown for the purpose of distributing and using controlled substances, court records show.
The case has mushroomed into federal criminal charges against 10 defendants, including one that remains on the run from law enforcement.
Because Iman was such a major player in the drug conspiracy, federal prosecutors in Vermont insisted that he plead guilty to four federal felony counts as part of any plea agreement, according to now-former Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Owyang.
Iman signed his plea agreement Jan. 28 indicating he would not commit any new crimes, that he would follow his conditions of release and that no new information would come forward about his misconduct. He formally entered the guilty pleas on March 4 with the understanding that his punishment would be on the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines, records show.
However, investigators subsequently determined that Iman regularly communicated and coordinated with individuals operating a drug operation from the Ryan Cook residence on Summer Street in Barre Town and was involved in drug transactions between March and May, court records show.
Barre Town Police lead a raid on the residence on May 11 that netted 4 arrests, including two local residents and two from Springfield, Mass.
Under the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory, Iman was expected to get credit for acceptance of responsibility, to lower his potential prison time.
Now the U.S. Attorney’s Office wants any possible credits killed and that he be sentenced under normal guidelines. That would mean the guideline calculations now indicate a life sentence, but the statutory maximum for the four crimes would be limited to 80 years.
The government, due in part to Iman’s age, is willing to propose a 17 ½-year prison sentence, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Cate, who took over the case for Owyang, who is becoming a Vermont Superior Court judge.
Iman’s newest defense lawyer, Tristram J. Coffin, who was appointed this summer, says that is too harsh. The government should not be allowed to back out of the signed plea deal and he proposed a prison sentence of 7 years, according to Coffin, who served as U.S. Attorney in Vermont (2009-2015).
Coffin said Iman was born in Kenya. His parents were refugees from Somalia and he is now facing deportation. He said Iman’s girlfriend has had two children while he has been in prison.
Iman’s criminal history includes an incident when he was 17 years-old that he yelled at passing-by police “Y’all better keep walking, I keep one in the head,” meaning he had a firearm with a bullet in the chamber, records show. Iman was clutching his waistband and police officers found a loaded black semi-automatic pistol with a round in the chamber, Cate said.
Iman was adjudicated a delinquent in that case and was briefly held by the Department of Youth Services until he turned 18.
In the current federal case, Iman has pleaded guilty to four felony drug charges. Court records show they are:
–Count one: Conspiring with Cadorette to use his 14-acre Williamstown property for the purpose of distributing and using a controlled substance between April 1, 2024 and July 24, 2024.
–Count two: Conspiring with Abdirahman Aden and others to knowingly distribute fentanyl in May 2024. Iman would identify customers and negotiate prices using a cell phone to use texts, voice and other messaging applications. Aden would do the meetings and provide the drugs from Iman.
–Count three: Conspiring with Michael Bernier, Amanda Delisle and others in laundering money illegally received from the unlawful trafficking of fentanyl and crack cocaine between February and June 2024.
–Count four: Conspiring with Christina Byrd and others to knowingly distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine between March and April 2024. Iman set the prices and provided the drugs sold by Byrd.
As part of the plea deal, Iman also agreed to forfeit various assets generated from his drug trafficking business. The records note they include a loaded 9-mm Smith & Wesson handgun with an obliterated serial number, a .40-caliber Glock drum magazine loaded with 46 rounds of ammunition. Also forfeited are assorted ammunition and accessories, including .380 ammunition, 10-mm ammunition, Centerfire rifle ammunition, loaded and unloaded Glock magazines, the plea agreement said.
Cate said Iman “ran an active, dangerous, armed drug trafficking organization that disseminated deadly drugs and wreaked havoc throughout Vermont.”
She noted Iman operated the drug business from behind a Facebook account in Springfield, Mass. in an attempt to minimize his own criminal exposure while directing others, including juveniles, to handle the transportation, possession and distribution of controlled substances.
After he was busted by the feds, Iman was detained pending trial, but court records now maintain he remained in the drug business. The information came in conjunction with the drug raid in Barre Town, records show.
Among those found at the house were Dynasty “D” Wright, 19, and Japheth “Two Tone” Melendez, 17, both of Springfield, Mass., John E. Baker, 44, and Larissa “Lacey” Hogue, 27, both of Barre, court records show.
Three phones belonging to Wright, Melendez and Hogue were recovered and a search showed there was extensive communication with Iman, who was in custody at the Essex County (N.Y.) Jail for the federal case, records show.
Iman also was recorded on the jail phones, including in the days leading up to the court-ordered search on Summer Street.
After the Barre Town raid, Iman sent a text that said, “I took a big ass L….” slang for taking a loss, Cate said in court papers. It reflects Iman’s knowledge that the drug seizure on Summer Street cost him money, she said.
He was later recorded on a jail phone discussing Wright’s bail and claiming it was “good” that her case was in state court and not federal, Cate wrote.
Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly has pending drugs charges against Cook and Wright. Baker was charged, but died during the summer.
The Times Argus reported in May that Melendez also was charged with fentanyl trafficking and cocaine possession, but there is no current public record and that could mean the 17-year-old had his criminal case sent to Family Court, which has secret proceedings.
No criminal charges can be found for Hogue.
Barre Town Police said during the search about 213 grams of crack cocaine, 67 grams of fentanyl, 79 grams of an unknown powder, two handguns, and $820 in cash were seized with help from Berlin and Barre City Police.
Earlier during the federal investigation, the elaborate, large-scale drug business in Vermont made use of “spotters” to serve as lookouts for those buyers arriving in the Williamstown area to obtain drugs, records show. They also possessed guns and conducted target practice.
Iman oversaw the drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine in Vermont between March and this month, HSI said in court records. Individuals from the organization sold narcotics to undercover agents on multiple occasions.
Cadorette’s 14-acre rural property in Williamstown was apparently picked because the natural camouflage could hide the drug business, officials said.
Undercover agents purchased thousands of dollars of fentanyl from individuals in a camper on the Cadorette property and observed a homemade shooting range, HSI said in a 44-page court affidavit. Several firearms, including two in the camper, were recovered.
The Vermont property did not have a primary permanent structure, but was the site for a series of motor vehicles, camper trailers and attachments, HSI said. Some were mobile and some were immobile.
A search also was conducted at a neighboring property at 1251 Rood Pond Road in Williamstown.
Meanwhile HSI raided an apartment at 414 Berkshire Avenue in Springfield, Mass, where Iman was arrested, officials said.
Cadorette, who lives with his wife, two children and grandmother, often served as a host in Williamstown to drug dealers and helped with daily operations, HSI said in court papers.
The investigation began to unfold when a Rutland City Police detective, who serves on the HSI Task Force in Vermont, had an undercover exchange on Facebook with a possible drug dealer in February, court records show.
The target account said he was in Barre “where the money is.” The target indicated when he was in Rutland he lacked customers, HSI said in court papers.
The investigation revealed the Facebook account was registered through Isha Abdi, who turned out to be Iman’s mother in Springfield, Mass, records show.
The target claimed his “product will have you driving here (Barre) every single time.” He further claimed the prices were “fantastic” and “marvelous.”
The affidavit said the conspiracy stretched as far north as Red Village Road in Lyndonville, where 870 wax folds of fentanyl/heroin were offered in one deal, HSI said.
