by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

An earlier version of this story was published in the Caledonian-Record

In one of the last criminal arrests by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent who was gunned down in Orleans County in January, Alexander Marcano, 33, of Hartford, Conn., has been sentenced to almost 6 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute more than 98 grams of fentanyl.

Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss informed Marcano that upon completing his 69-month prison term, he will be subject to supervised release for 5 years.

Border Patrol Agent David “Chris” Maland was on routine patrol near Bear Mountain Road in North Troy about a half-mile from the U.S./Canada border about 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 30, 2023. The area is known for both human and drug smuggling almost on a daily basis, the Border Patrol said.

Maland stopped a vehicle for driving erratically and found Marcano, who uses the street name “Twin,” seated behind the driver in a passenger seat.

Marcano had more than 98 grams of fentanyl, over 41 grams of crack cocaine, over 75 grams of cocaine powder, a loaded 9-millimeter pistol, $22,891 in cash, and drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale, indicative of drug distribution, Maland reported.

Maland, 44, of Newport, was fatally shot while making an immigration stop on Interstate 91 in Coventry on Jan. 20 – Inauguration Day for President Donald J. Trump.

The veteran agent also determined Marcano had a pending felony arrest in Connecticut for a shooting. The shooting involved a man – who sustained 11 gunshot wounds – and his dog in December 2022 in Hartford, Conn. Marcano was later convicted of assault in the first degree — serious physical injury – with a gun different from the one recovered in Vermont.

Maland said Marcano admitted that he was a drug addict and used more than 10 grams of cocaine and fentanyl each day. Marcano said he obtained the handgun in a drug trade, Border Patrol Agent Jamie Loomis said in a court affidavit.

Marcano tried to claim the nearly $23,000 in cash came from the sale of a car, casino winnings and an inheritance, Loomis said.

The driver of the vehicle, James Beauvais, was released without any charges, records show.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Corrine M. Smith had sought a prison term between 60 and 63 months. She left it up to the judge whether the sentence was served concurrently or consecutively to the sentence imposed for the Connecticut shooting.

He received a sentence of 5-to-12 years in prison followed by 3 years on probation for the shooting, court records show. Reiss said she would urge that the sentences be concurrent and that his federal time be served close to the Hartford, Conn. area.

Defense lawyer Ian Carleton asked the federal sentence in Vermont run at the same time as the Connecticut case.

Carleton acknowledged that his client was a substance abuser from about 2014 until his arrest Jan. 30, 2023.

In the Marcano case, the defendant eventually pleaded guilty on Dec. 9, 2024 to a charge of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Maland’s criminal investigation led to a federal grand jury indicting Marcano on four felony drug and gun charges. Besides the possession with intent to distribute fentanyl charge, Marcano also was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm to further a drug trafficking crime and possession of the 9-mm pistol while being an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance, according to the indictment filed Sept. 26, 2024.

Those three other charges were dropped at sentencing.

Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher praised the investigation of the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Vermont Drug Task Force, including a detective from the Newport City Police.

Maland, 44, of Newport was given full military and Border Patrol honors during his funeral, which was attended by a delegation of Vermont police and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who praised his work.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers, including a huge delegation from the U.S. Border Patrol from throughout the country attended the emotional service at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Maland was fatally shot shortly after he ordered a 2015 Toyota Prius that was registered in North Carolina to pull over on Interstate 91 in Coventry about 3 p.m. Jan. 20.

Authorities have said that without any warning, the driver, Theresa Youngblut, 21, got out of the car and opened fire. Maland was struck by one of two shots in the neck and never got a chance to return fire.

An unnamed Border Patrol Agent, who joined the traffic stop, returned fire and wounded Youngblut. The also fatally shot her passenger, Felix Bauckholt, 28, a German National, the car’s owner, officials said.

Newport Officer James LeClair rushed Maland in his city police cruiser to North Country Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead about 4 p.m.

Two .40-caliber casings recovered at the scene support the belief that she fired the handgun twice,” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has said.