The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Markus Saez, 28, of Bloomfield, Connecticut, was sentenced today to serve 54 months in prison after his conviction for possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine. United States District Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered Saez to serve a three-year term of supervised release after his incarceration.
According to court records, in the fall of 2020, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted controlled purchases of fentanyl from Saez with the help of a confidential informant. On December 7, 2020, DEA agents arrested Saez while he was in the middle of a drug sale in the parking lot of a hotel in Colchester. A search of Saez’s person resulted in the seizure of $1,106 and a hotel key card for Saez’s room. Agents obtained a search warrant from a federal magistrate judge for the room, resulting in the seizure of approximately 40 grams of fentanyl, 70 grams of cocaine and cocaine base, cutting agents, drug packaging materials, and over $11,000 in cash.
At the sentencing hearing, the government requested a 70-month sentence, citing defendant Saez’s multiple prior convictions for selling narcotics and his June 2021 arrest in East Hartford, Connecticut for unlawfully possessing and brandishing a loaded firearm, which occurred while he was on pretrial conditions of release in the Vermont federal case. Saez’s prosecution in Connecticut for firearm offenses remains pending.
United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Winooski Police Department and the Burlington Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt handled the prosecution. Saez was represented by Gregory Mertz, Esq.