It includes using 6 juveniles to sell his crack cocaine in Rutland County  

BURLINGTON — A Springfield, Mass. man who was a leader in a major crack cocaine distribution ring in Rutland County that recruited juveniles to sell illegal drugs, has been convicted of 10 felony drug and gun cases.

A federal court jury found Rockylane Lewis, 34, guilty on Wednesday afternoon on seven criminal charges, including a drug conspiracy count that carries a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.

In an unusual twist, Lewis pleaded guilty as his trial started last week to three other felony charges for actual sales of crack cocaine in Rutland County in 2023.  He admitted the illegal sales in an effort to reduce the amount of testimony the jury would hear about his criminal conduct.

The wide-ranging investigation by Rutland City Police and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations into fentanyl, crack cocaine and oxycodone sales netted about a dozen people on federal of state charges.  Some sales were at the Rodeway Inn on Woodstock Avenue, where some defendants lived, along with some apartments in Rutland City, Rutland Town, Proctor and Poultney.

One of his co-conspirators, Takar Watson, 42,  of Springfield, Mass., who provided Lewis his drugs, also pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge as the trial started last week in Burlington.  Under the plea agreement, Watson, who is known as “Fast” and “Fastlife” is expected to receive a 4-year prison term when sentenced this fall.

Watson admitted he conspired with Lewis, Aisha Davy, 37, of Springfield, Mass. and others, both in Vermont and elsewhere to distribute cocaine and oxycodone between June 2022 and June 21, 2023.  Watson used the proceeds from his oxycodone sales in Massachusetts to facilitate the purchase of cocaine for sales in Vermont, the plea agreement said.

Davy, who also pleaded guilty earlier, helped supply some minors  from Springfield, Mass as young as 14 and 15 years-old to make the drug sales in Rutland, records show.  Her plea agreement listed six sales by juveniles for crack cocaine and fentanyl between February and June 2023. It also noted she rented an AirBnB in Poultney in March 2023 and it was used to facilitate distribution of controlled substances.

Davy, who was arrested in Springfield, Mass., is also known as Alisha Yanira Arnold and Aisha Yanira Davy, records show.

No date has been set for Davy’s sentencing for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine.

The 10-year mandatory prison sentence for Lewis is for a drug conspiracy in which he helped in the distribution of more than 10 ounces of crack cocaine, records show. Lewis also is known as “Rizzo,”  “Rocko” and “Rockout,” records show.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Turner and Michelle Arra had maintained Lewis was well above the minimum 10 ounces (280 grams).  Turner in his closing argument used the low end on all the drug contacts, sales and seizures and came to nearly double the minimum amount in grams.

The 9 women and 3 men on the jury deliberated about 4 hours, including a break for lunch.    

Senior Federal Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford, who presided over the seven-day trial, ordered the continued detention of Lewis pending sentencing.  He polled the jurors on all the charges and they each said guilty on seven counts.

The jury found Lewis not guilty on two gun-related charges including that he was in possession of a firearm as a fugitive from justice when he was arrested on June 21, 2023 in Rutland.

Lewis had fled Massachusetts partway through his 2023 trial on other charges shortly before his arrest in Rutland.  He admitted he was a fugitive when caught, Rutland Police said.

The issue for that charge at the trial was whether Lewis or another person, Chase Siliski, possessed a black 9-mm Ruger handgun found on the bathroom floor when police arrested him during a raid at an apartment at 149 Granger St. in June 2023.  Investigators said they also seized over 55 grams of bulk fentanyl and a gram of crack cocaine.

Lewis took the stand in his own defense and tried to deflect the gun ownership to Siliski. His testimony apparently was enough to leave the jury unsure about the ownership.

Lewis is unable to legally possess any guns due to his criminal record, which includes a 2008 felony conviction for carrying a firearm without a license, records show.

He had briefly fired his defense lawyer Karen Shingler on the first scheduled day of the trial.  Lewis claimed his family and friends, who did not attend the trial, had told him they thought Shingler, a longtime lawyer and former prosecutor, had given him some bad legal information. 

The judge postponed the start until the following morning to let Lewis prepare his defense.  Judge Crawford declined a request to postpone the trial, noting Lewis had refused to waive the Federal Speedy Trial Act and that Shingler was his fourth lawyer in the case.  The judge said the jury was present and everybody was ready to start.

The next morning Lewis asked the court to reappoint Shingler because he was in over his head and needed her.  Shingler, who had remained in the courtroom, was restored.

Shingler grilled the witnesses for the government as best she could and gave a strong closing considering she had limited evidence.  

While plea deals were struck with all the other defendants arrested in the investigation, the chance for any settlement with Lewis was most likely soured by the mandatory 10-year minimum he was facing on the drug conspiracy count. 

Also Lewis has a lengthy criminal record and a Massachusetts judge had noted during a 2020 court hearing that it was 19-pages long.

His indictment in Vermont stems from an elaborate investigation by Rutland City Police and Homeland Security Investigations that began in December 2022 into the sale of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and other controlled substances.  Investigators monitored at least 14 sales, according to Turner, who is chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont. 

Serious intimidations, including death threats to potential witnesses were uncovered during the case, but people stepped up, court records show.

Rutland Police said an Instagram story on July 31, 2023 showed Lewis apparently chatting with somebody and the background song is “Feds did a sweep.”  The lyrics in the song included “Burn the eyes out a witness.”  A news story was then posted that had a quote “ten toes down neva fold I never told.”  

Among the witnesses at the trial was former Rutland City Police Detective Tyler Billings, who was assigned to the Homeland Security Investigation Task Force in Southern Vermont.  Billings, who started and tracked the investigation, now works for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in North Carolina.

Also testifying was Holly S. Howard, 50, formerly of Rutland and more recently from Brattleboro, the fourth defendant named in the latest indictment.  She reached a plea deal that netted her 5 years on federal probation after pleading to possession of crack cocaine.  Howard also is known as Holly Tracey.  She also uses the aliases Kimberly Ranae Burgess, Kimberly Ranae Kelly, and Kimberly Ranae Howard, records show.

The prosecution used 13 witnesses in the case, including Howard, Davy, Siliski and two other criminal defendants nabbed during the investigation.  At least three juveniles were identified in the indictment by initials: K.C., Z.R., and D.A., but none testified.

Also testifying was HSI Special Agent James Gambone, who had been embedded with Bennington Police at the time and was part of the arresting and search team.  ATF Special Agent Eric Brimo also testified as an expert about firearms.

The investigation uncovered various videos showing juveniles and in one video post it showed “what appeared to be several young African American males holding large amounts of U.S. currency inside a room in January 2023, court records show.  The caption was “Young Money $$” and police later identified it as having happened at 162 Simons Avenue in Rutland Town, police said.

One month earlier a video post showed a person firing a handgun at targets, police said.