HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – A Holyoke man was sentenced to prison last week after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine in Vermont.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, 21-year-old Daeshawn Jones of Holyoke was sentenced to 47 months in prison and to also serve a three-year term of supervised release. Court documents revealed Jones would repeatedly travel from Holyoke to Bennington County in Vermont in 2020 to sell drugs for personal financial gain. Jones had a residence in Manchester, Vermont that he used to store and distribute drugs.

Jones also obtained firearms in connection with his drug trafficking activity. He would allegedly ask others to purchase the firearms for him. In May 2020, Jones was given two firearms from another man that legally purchased two Glock handguns from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Belmont, Vermont. Two days after receiving the firearms, one was recovered from Jones’ home in Holyoke. In June 2020, Jones asked the same man to buy two more firearms but he was denied by the firearms dealer.

Jones was arrested on a federal warrant in January 2021 and a rifle and heroin were found in his residence.

Several other people have previously been convicted and sentenced in connection to Jones:

• October 4, 2021: Caitlin Williams, 27, of Wallingford, Vermont, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine. She was sentenced to time served, which was approximately ten months.
• December 22, 2021: Leland Martin, 35, of Shrewsbury, Vermont, pleaded guilty to straw purchasing firearms and was sentenced to twelve months and one day of imprisonment.
• March 3, 2022: Alexander Johnson, 25, of Manchester, Vermont, pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine base and was sentenced to 27 months’ in prison.  
• Jones’s co-defendant, Thomas Rougier, Jr., pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base and is being held pending sentencing.

“We are working with law enforcement at all levels to remove dangerous, illegal guns and drugs from the street,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest. “We will use every tool available to eradicate the drug-fueled violence affecting our community.”

“Combatting firearms trafficking is at the forefront of ATF’s mission,” said James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Boston Field Division. “These sentencings should send the message to criminals that a blatant disregard of federal firearms laws will be investigated by ATF and our local, state, and federal partners.  Those who have willfully violated federal firearm laws will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”