BENNINGTON — A gang-affiliated individual from Manhattan is facing a possible life sentence after he was busted in Pownal early Monday morning when police found 150 grams of cocaine in his possession.
Stephon Sullivan, 29, from Upper Manhattan, was arraigned Monday afternoon on one count of felony cocaine trafficking. He faces a possible life sentence as a habitual offender due to several drug and other convictions from Maine and New York.
According to an affidavit in the case, the Bennington Police Department received a tip from a concerned citizen that a silver Lincoln sedan was leaving Depot Street in Bennington and heading to Peaks Pine Road and Grandview Drive in Pownal with approximately two pounds of cocaine inside. Police caught up with the Lincoln near the intersection and witnessed two individuals exit the vehicle, Sullivan and Richard Pecor. Police made contact with the two males.
Sullivan, carrying a black/blue backpack on his left shoulder and a paper grocery bag in his hands, and Pecor both showed their identification and spoke with the officers, telling them that they had just arrived from New York City, and that they didn’t know what was inside the bags that they were carrying.
When police asked permission to look inside the bags, Sullivan allegedly looked away and didn’t answer.
A check through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) showed an officer alert stating “Criminal Gang Member- Caution.” Both individuals were then detained. Pecor waived his rights, telling the officers that he had just picked up Sullivan, whom he knew as “Derek,” at the Albany Bus Station, and that he did not know him well, but had met him in Manhattan three months prior. Pecor also told police that he had picked up Sullivan five times from Albany over the past three months.
While police were on scene, the initial citizen caller called the Bennington Police back and provided a sworn statement that said, “Richard Pecor, and Derek from New York City came to my house, were disrespectful, and attempted to sell drugs from my residence.” That caller told police she had kicked them both out, and that they were heading to Pownal.
Both Sullivan and Pecor were detained and transported to the Bennington Police Department. The bags that the men were carrying were seized pending a search warrant. When the men were personally searched at the station, police allegedly found crack cocaine and a glass pipe. Both substances later tested positive for cocaine.
Police deployed Grizzly, one of the Bennington K-9 team, to sniff for possible drugs; Grizzly alerted to the presence of drugs immediately.
A search warrant was later granted, turning up approximately 162 packaged grams of a white, powdery substance, which later came back positive for cocaine. Police also found $12,495.00 in US currency and a digital scale.
Sullivan has an extensive criminal record, including convictions in both Maine and New York. Convictions include unlawful trafficking, criminal possession with intent to sell, and sale of a controlled substance. A quick online search of Stephon Sullivan revealed a felony conviction in Augusta, Maine, in 2017 for drug trafficking, in which he was sentenced with another individual to 30 months in prison.
Sullivan pleaded not guilty to the single charge and was held without bail pending an as-yet unscheduled weight-of-evidence hearing. Pecor was cited and released until his later arraignment on related charges.
Sullivan is facing a life sentence due to Vermont’s Habitual Offender statute, which allows prosecutors to pursue a life sentence if a defendant, already convicted of two or more felonies, is charged with a fourth.
Vermont statute holds that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Banner will update this story as more information becomes available.