BURLINGTON — A Rutland County man, who was featured in the media including the Wall Street Journal about his success in a special Vermont drug rehabilitation program, believes it was the ongoing leniency that he received in the past that helped set him up for failure again — this time for selling crack cocaine.

Todd S. Popovitch, 44, of West Rutland, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for his latest criminal convictions for distributing crack cocaine.

He also received a concurrent four-year prison sentence in U.S. District Court in Burlington for possession of a World War II submachine gun that was not registered under the National Firearms Act.

It was one of seven firearms, assorted ammunition and about $3,900 in cash seized by investigators at Popovitch’s Marble Street apartment in West Rutland on Dec. 20, 2024.

“No matter how many times I got caught with drugs, or breaking the law, a slap on the wrist is all I got and maybe a fine. No big deal, I wish it was a bigger deal, because maybe it would have changed what happened next,” Popovitch stated in his recent letter to the sentencing judge.

His drug life included an arrest in 2002 for marijuana and continued through the years with other charges, court records show.

Popovitch said he wonders “about who I would be today had I endured stronger punishments somewhere earlier in life. The path in life that I took was dangerous and filled with unforeseen consequences,” he stated in the letter to Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss.

Judge Reiss told Popovitch that he would be on supervised release conditions for seven years after he is discharged from federal prison to ensure a proper transition.

She said he would get credit for nine months in pre-trial detention. Reiss also assessed him $200 in court costs.

The judge agreed to ask the Bureau of Prisons to place Popovitch in a prison as close to Vermont as possible and with the lowest security setting so that he can receive mental health and substance abuse treatment, vocational and educational opportunities.

Reiss also wants Popovitch to enroll in the Bureau of Prisons residential drug rehab program so it will facilitate his reentry back into the community and address recidivism risks.

Under his plea agreement, Popovitch admitted repeatedly selling crack cocaine between Dec. 4 and Dec. 9, 2024, to a confidential informant. After three sales, his apartment was searched and police found about 35 grams of crack cocaine that he intended to sell, court records show.

During the apartment search, police also found the submachine gun. Popovitch knew the gun had to be registered, but he refused to follow the law, the plea agreement stated.

As part of the plea deal, Popovitch forfeited the seven firearms: three rifles, including the submachine gun, two revolvers, one shotgun and a pistol, court records show. He said he would not contest their destruction.

The negotiated plea agreement proposed concurrent four-year sentences. The federal sentencing guidelines had suggested a penalty between 57 and 71 months, court records show.

Popovitch could have received up to 20 years in prison on the drug case and up to 10 years on the gun count.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia A.P. Cowles said Popovitch was living a dangerous lifestyle by leaving his apartment to sell serious drugs and to return to a home filled with firearms. She said he was fully aware of the dangers of drugs by attending the federal drug court program from one of his earlier cases.

“Popovitch has served little jail time, despite his extensive criminal history and prior federal charge, Cowles wrote in her sentencing memo.

“Time and again, he has secured supervision and treatment in the community as opposed to time in custody. A sentence of imprisonment now is necessary to punish and deter Popovitch and to promote respect for the law generally,” Cowles insisted.

“Allowing Popovitch to re-offend without substantial consequences would risk communicating to the community that his offenses were not serious,” Cowles said.

Defense lawyer Natasha Sen said a lack of accountability is the unfortunate theme that ran through Popovitch’s life.

“Mr. Popovitch has struggled to manage his grief and abandonment,” Sen wrote, adding that Popovitch did flourish while in the state and federal drug court programs but subsequently failed.

“Mr. Popovitch also understands that he has been given chances to change courses, such as the two stints in the state and federal recovery courts, and that he squandered those opportunities,” Sen wrote.

He lost his mother at age 14 when she was struck by a motor vehicle in April 1996. He said his younger sister, Michelle, died from a heroin overdose when he was 34, court records note.

Popovitch, who played basketball, soccer and baseball at West Rutland High School, drew national attention in 2016 when he was the focus of a Wall Street Journal article about his drug rehabilitation attempt. The newspaper also produced a 10-minute video.

He said in media interviews and podcasts that if one person heard about his rehab story, that he hoped it would help turn people around and save a life.