BRATTLEBORO — A man formerly from Boston pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and cocaine at Great River Terrace in January 2022.
At a hearing last week, Windham Superior Court Judge Katherine Hayes said the plea agreement calls for a suspended sentence of three to five years except for four months of imprisonment at Southern State Correctional Facility starting Aug. 31. Quinton Williams, 31, also will serve seven years of probation for the offenses.
Defense attorney Chris Montgomery said his client has not been charged with any crime or violated any court-ordered condition since he was arraigned in March 2022. Montgomery called the sentence for probation “appropriate here.”
On Jan. 11, 2022, Williams sold a confidential informant $100 of cocaine in a room at Great River Terrace in Brattleboro. Hayes said the room was rented by a man who admitted it was used to sell drugs.
Two days later in the room, Williams sold $200 of heroin and $60 of cocaine to the confidential informant. Six days after that sale, Williams sold $100 of cocaine out of the room.
Deputy State’s Attorney Steven Brown said Great River Terrace is intended to “take care of our most vulnerable people.”
“It was set up for transitional housing to get people back on their feet, give them a stable living environment, living that is free from substance use and drug dealing,” he said of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust property where services are provided by Groundworks Collaborative. “And people like the defendant came in and preyed upon the people in the Great River Terrace, taking advantage of folks who are housed there. To distribute their drugs into the community is concerning behavior. Obviously, it’s dangerous.”
Brown acknowledged Williams is taking responsibility for the crimes.
“Your Honor, at the time that Mr. Williams engaged in this activity, he was himself a regular user of drugs,” Montgomery said. “He was selling small personal amounts ... and since his arrest, he has gotten clean.”
Williams said he currently lives in Springfield, Mass., and works at a car rental company.
“Most importantly, he’s not hanging around the type of people he was hanging around with in Boston, when he fell into this type of lifestyle,” Montgomery said.
Williams recounted going on drug binges and being homeless. After being arrested, he said, he made changes.
Hayes told him to abide by the curfew and living situations approved by a probation officer
“And try to stay employed,” Hayes said. “And don’t go to Great River Terrace again, which I assume you probably don’t want to.”
“No, your honor,” Williams said.
