Michelle Provencher (also known as Michelle Hall), 24, originally of Irasburg, was arrested and held in federal custody on Friday, January 13, following the search of a rented Airbnb residence in Westmore.
Two Massachusetts residents identified as Nathaniel Jamal Jones (also known as “JJ”), 36, and Jermaine Douchette, Jr. (also known as “Bear”), 42—both previously of Springfield, Massachusetts—were also arrested at the rental property. All three were fugitives who had active federal warrants for their arrests.
They had been indicted in December for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl between August 2022 and October 26, 2022. Jones and Douchette face additional counts for specific distributions of controlled substances. Jones and Douchette had previously been charged in a criminal complaint relating to those charges on October 24, 2022.
The conspiracy involved at least seven individuals who agreed with one another to deal drugs in Vermont. Court records say Jones and Douchette distributed controlled substances from the Barton residence of codefendant Erika Desormeaux.
Investigators arranged the purchase of cocaine and fentanyl from the defendants on multiple occasions between August and October, and most of those transactions occurred at the Barton residence. The conspirators also acquired and possessed firearms during the investigation and attempted to acquire firearms through straw purchases, police say.