Just off court supervision for Central Vermont drug case

A former Detroit., Mich. man, who was found not guilty in a murder charge in his hometown, is now facing two counts of sale of cocaine and crack cocaine in Northern Vermont, officials said.

Terry Dawayne Catchings, 31, who was under federal court supervision until Jan. 1, also is charged with possession of cocaine in Orange County during a traffic stop on Jan. 7 with intent to distribute the drug.

Catchings pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Thursday to the three felony drug charges.

Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle ordered Catchings, who uses the street name “Biggs,” detained pending trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Hill argued there was strong incentive for Catchings to flee in light of his criminal record and the pending charges.

His criminal record includes two convictions for firearms-related offenses in Michigan in the previous decade, court records show.

According to a veteran Morristown detective assigned to the Vermont Drug Task Force, Catchings distributed cocaine and crack cocaine on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30, court records maintain.

Catchings was supposed to be living in Rhode Island after his court supervision by U.S. Probation was transferred from Vermont following a 2024 federal conviction.

In the latest case, Vermont State Police Sgt. Sean Collins stopped Catchings for speeding on Jan. 7 as he driving northbound on Interstate 89 in Randolph.

Collins reported Catchings initially claimed he was headed to see his boyfriend.

A certified drug-trained K-9 from Hartford Police alerted on the black Michigan-registered 2025 Buick Encore, which was rented, the task force said.

The car was towed to the state police barracks in Royalton and Catchings was given a ride by Trooper Michael Robidoux, police said.

A subsequent search of the car uncovered nearly 4.1 ounces of cocaine hidden in the fabric lining of the ceiling, court records show.

If convicted, Catchings faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the three felony counts.

Defense lawyer Kevin Henry asked for 60 days to review the evidence and file possible pre-trial motions.

In 2022, Catchings was named in a federal indictment in Central Vermont with conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine between July 2022 and August 4, 2022.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont said at the time Catchings was arrested in 2014 on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder after three witnesses identified him as the shooter of a man driving an Impala near the East English Village Prep Academy in Detroit, court records show.

A jury acquitted Catchings on the murder charge, but found him guilty for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, court records note. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

In 2019, Catchings and his sister, then a Detroit police officer, were arrested and charged with firearm offenses after a dispute at a wedding reception resulted in brandishing and discharges of firearms, records show.

News accounts indicated Catchings fired his sister’s police department-issued handgun. It appears he received a one-year prison term for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, records show.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt in Burlington commended the investigative work done in the recent case by Morristown and state police, the Vermont Drug Task Force and the FBI.