by Mike Donoghue

BURLINGTON – A longtime Hartford, Conn. area woman has been ordered jailed after Vermont authorities said she set up a major drug business in the home of an infirmed elderly Lamoille County woman last summer and issued death threats if she went to the police.

Hassanah “Ma” Delia, 37, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday to a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl in Vermont and elsewhere in July and August 2023. 

Morristown Police reported a local woman, who has a degenerative illness, called 911 on Aug. 2, 2023 after Delia and two co-conspirators briefly left the home and asked officers to remove their belongings, including a safe and several scales, court records show.

The unwitting woman said her home became a drug den for about 10 days after it had been commandeered by Delia in late July, court records note.  Delia and her two companions sold drugs out of her house, prepared and packaged the drugs and armed themselves, a federal prosecutor said in court papers.  They even cooked crack, he said.

Morristown Police, after getting a search warrant, found 153 grams of cocaine, 135 grams of crack cocaine, 2,360 bags of fentanyl, a Taurus 9-mm handgun and $9,042 in cash in the safe belonging to Delia, who moved to Burlington, N.J. last year, court records note.

Delia’s criminal record showed she completed more than 14 years combined in prison time and under federal supervision in connection with forcing two 14-year-old runaways in Connecticut into a life of prostitution beginning in 2009, court documents show.  Her federal supervision ended only a few months before the drug trafficking began in Morristown, a prosecutor said in court papers.  She pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, records show.

Federal Magistrate Kevin J. Doyle said during Delia’s arraignment on Monday he was troubled with her record of apparently targeting vulnerable people, first by forcing the teen-agers into a life a prostitution to help her make money and now the allegation of forcing an elderly woman in need of assistance to unwillingly host an illegal drug business in her home.

Doyle agreed to jail her citing the weight of the evidence, Delia’s criminal history and her past problems while under court supervision.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig had noted that a pre-trial services report showed Delia had both suicidal and homicidal ideations. He said there were also other mental heath issues.

The victim said at one point she was directed to remove an air conditioner from a back window at her residence so the trio could deal drugs to their customers through the hole in the wall, Morristown Police said in court papers.

The Lamoille County woman had gone into hiding pending the outcome of the  detention motion because she was in fear for her life after the defendant made death threats to both her and her dog, Stendig said in federal court.

The identity of the woman and her address were not disclosed in federal court documents or the hearing.  Vermont News First later learned the identity and location, but has opted not to make them public.

Morristown Police identified several witnesses to the drug trafficking in addition to other people known to be involved in the drug scene that Delia befriended, according to court papers.

Police Officer Lucas Marcoux said in court papers that Shawn Hickok had told the trio they could stay at the residence, but never told the woman “they were big time crack, heroin and fentanyl dealers.”  Hickok reportedly told the woman  he was sending some friends over to help take care of the victim, who was recovering from an injury and lived alone, Marcoux said.

While the Morristown Police were at her home on Aug. 2, 2023, the victim reported that Delia called and expressed concern about the police presence, court records show.  Delia called back a second time and told Morristown Detective Lt. Todd Baxter that she was helping take care of the victim and had given her a bath, records show.

Delia called back a third time and told Baxter her name was “Elizabeth Taylor”, that she was 40, and worked for Allied Community Resource out of Connecticut, records show.  Investigation revealed there was no “Elizabeth Taylor” in Connecticut or Massachusetts, police said.

Baxter asked about the 2023 Can-Am Stryker Rally edition motorcycle parked in front of the victim’s residence and Taylor said it belonged to a friend.  A registration check showed it belonged to Delia, Morristown Police said.

Marcoux said after the homeowner gave voluntary consent to remove property from the residence, Morristown Police began to videotape the process.  Before the search Sgt. Garth Christensen was taking pictures of the inside when Marcoux said he was approached by Timothy Magee, a known illicit drug user, court records show.  Magee claimed he was a family friend of the victim, but she told police she did not know him, Marcoux said.  Magee was sent on his way.

As the police operation continued, Lt. Baxter located Kyle Kaizer in a nearby parking lot watching the house, Marcoux wrote.  Kaizer is associated with Magee, lives with him and is a known illicit drug user, Marcoux’s affidavit said.  Kaizer was operating a 2009 Toyota Scion.

Besides the safe, police removed other personal belongings that were not owned by the Lamoille County woman.  They included a canvas bag with clothing, a cardboard box, a black GMAX helmet, a black Smith snowboard helmet, a brown blanket, charging cords, hygiene supplies and Chore Boy, police said.

The victim said the Chore Boy scouring pad, which is commonly used as a filter to consume illicit drugs, belonged to Jillian Peets, police said in court papers.

More than two hours into the search, the victim reported “Ma” had phoned again and said she planned to surrender to police and that the victim better not pick Delia out of a police lineup, court records show.

Baxter later called back the number the “Ma” had used to call the victim and he asked for “Elizabeth Taylor.”  A man said the detective had a wrong number.  He called back five minutes later and nobody answered, police said.

The victim reported she was offered drugs by the trio staying at her home, but she refused, Marcoux wrote.  He wrote the victim said she overheard Delia and one of the men on their cellphones conducting drugs transactions.    

Marcoux said Baxter, who also is assigned to the Vermont Drug Task Force, was aware of a woman known as “Ma” as serving as a large-scale crack and fentanyl source in Lamoille County and that she is associated with the Hartford, Conn. area, Marcoux said.  He said Baxter reported Hartford is a well-known source city for crack and fentanyl for Vermont, including Lamoille County.

Delia was sentenced to more than 9 years in federal prison in 2011 after she and a co-defendant recruited two 14-year-old girls that had run away from the Department for Children and Families, court records show.  The teens were advertised on the Internet, driven to hotels in Hartford and East Hartford, Conn. to be raped and bought them alcohol to dull their fears, court records show.

She was released from her 110-month sentence in April 2018 and was placed on five years on supervised release by the U.S. Probation Office, records show.  Stendig said Delia performed poorly on supervised release and show hostility toward the conditions she was expected to follow.

Her federal supervision ended in April 2023 and she was back to a life of crime in Vermont in less than 4 months by spearheading a “significant drug conspiracy involving fentanyl, cocaine, crack and at least one firearm,” Stendig wrote in his detention motion.

Burlington lawyer Mark Kaplan, who was hired by Delia, tried to paint a different picture, claiming his client had a clean record for more than 14 years.  He said Delia has a job in security and is attending college online for psychology and counseling.

Stendig countered there were some violations while on supervised release, including at least one arrest, but Kaplan said that was dismissed and the other issues did not result in further jailing. 

Delia told the court she got her GED while in federal prison and attained 18 credits in business.  She said she also got her cosmetology license and is continuing her studies.

Kaplan said if the court was concerned about releasing Delia, she could be ordered to live with her older sister Tiashia Jackson in Hillside, N.J., who attended the court hearing and testified briefly.   She promised to report had violations of conditions of release.

“I’m hard on her,” Jackson told the court.

Doyle, after taking a short recess to reflect on the arguments by both lawyers and to read about her federal supervision in the Connecticut case, ruled Delia needed to be detained as a danger to the community.

Kaplan had maintained that Delia was in Vermont last summer to visit a brother and to go camping for a short vacation.

Morristown Police said Delia had managed to bring both a car and a motorcycle to Lamoille County during the visit.

Kaplan asked for 90 days to investigate the case and to consider pre-trial motions.  Doyle set an April 29 deadline. 

The indictment seeks Delia, if convicted on the drug conspiracy count, to forfeit all proceeds from her drug trafficking, including the $9,043 seized during the raid.