By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First
BURLINGTON — Two Springfield, Mass. men, who are charged in state court in a drug-debt homicide case in Waterbury last fall, now have been indicted by federal authorities as part of a major drug trafficking conspiracy based in Vermont.
Fabrice “Savage” Rumama, 21, and Samuel “Smitty” Niyonsenga, 19, are charged with knowingly and intentionally conspiring with others to distribute crack cocaine and more than 40 grams of fentanyl between September and October 2024 in Vermont and elsewhere.
They both pleaded not guilty during separate arraignments in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Tuesday afternoon. The 40 grams makes the maximum penalty, if convicted, up to 40 years, records show.
Rumama and Niyonsenga were ordered held without bail at the request of prosecutor Jared Engelking, a trial attorney from the Violent Crime & Racketeering Section for the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
The issue of bail in the federal case in Vermont was moot because Rumama and Niyonsenga are both being held without bail on state homicide charges.
Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly has charged Rumama and Niyonsenga with both second-degree murder and aiding in the commission of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Shawn Spiker, 34, of Croyden, N.H. on Oct. 14, 2024.
Spiker was gunned down about 12:45 a.m. at the Kneeland Flats Trailer Park, State Police Detective Sgt. Seth Richardson said in a court affidavit.
Michael Perry, 57, of Waterbury also was wounded during the shooting, said Richardson, who is assigned to the Major Crime Unit.
Donnelly said this week the state homicide charges, which carry up to life in prison, remain pending against both men.
A motion to consider Niyonsenga as a Youthful Offender and to send his case to Family Court for secret proceedings was initially filed by the defense in state court. Records show the request has since been withdrawn.
Niyonsenga also is charged with an unrelated case of felony fentanyl trafficking for a reported sale before the shooting, police said.
Donnelly has maintained the evidence against Rumama and Niyonsenga is great. Judge Michael Harris agreed with her in a 17-page decision in which he ordered both men held without bail.
Harris ruled “the court finds that the release of Defendants would constitute danger to the public and there is a risk of flight from prosecution.”
Engelking, the Violent Crime & Racketeering prosecutor from Washington, D.C. said at the federal court hearing there is considerable evidence to share with the defense. It includes law enforcement reports, search warrants, photos, audio and video of drug buys, lab reports, and cellphone extractions, he said.
Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle agreed on Tuesday with a request by defense lawyer Natasha Sen, who represents Rumama, to give her 120 days to explore the case and to consider pre-trial motions.
She said the case was tied into multiple defendants into other cases. Sen did not identify the other defendants and cases at the arraignment or after the hearing.
Doyle set a Sept. 10th deadline.
Sen said if the homicide charges are dismissed for some reason in state court, she may seek to revisit the no bail issue in federal court.
When defense lawyer Matthew D. Anderson of Rutland appeared later for Niyonsenga, Doyle offered the same four-month deadline.
The nation of origin for both defendants was not listed in court papers, but Doyle told both defendants during their respective arraignments that under a U.S. treaty the federal government may be required to notify the consulate for their homeland if they are not U.S. citizens.
Rumama and Niyonsenga fled the mobile home in Waterbury after the shooting and returned to a residence in the town of Orange, where they had been dealing drugs, Richardson wrote. A cooperating person at the residence said the homicide was soon discussed with those at the home, records show.
State police, along with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, raided the residence on U.S. 302 in Orange on Oct. 18 after obtaining a search warrant. Rumama and Niyonsenga tried to flee, but both were eventually caught, police said.
Investigators said they found fentanyl in both bulk and individual packages, two handguns, an AR-style rifle, ammunition and about $3,000 in cash, Richardson said.
The house in Orange was part of another ongoing drug investigation, police said.
The federal case is part of Operation Take Back America a 2025 nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice. It is designed to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) for prompt prosecutions.
