New York City Man Sentenced For Role In Violent Vermont-Based Drug Trafficking Organization

Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 8:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BURLINGTON, VT.- Last Wednesday, a 35-year-old New York City man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a violent Bennington, Vermont, drug trafficking organization that was responsible for distributing quantities of crack cocaine and deadly fentanyl throughout Bennington, Vermont, and the surrounding area.

     According to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher, on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, Keahnard Rowell, also known as “Stacks,” 35, of New York, New York, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Lanthier to 60 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

     Rowell previously appeared in Federal Court in Burlington, Vermont, and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, Crack Cocaine, and Fentanyl.

According To Documents Filed With The District Court

     According to charging documents filed in the District Court, between February and July 2022, Rowell was identified as a high-ranking member of a violent drug-trafficking organization that operated in Bennington, Vermont. The organization was led by co-conspirator William McLaughlin. Although much of the violence was perpetrated by MnLaughlin, Rowell was aware of the violence.

     Court records indicated that after a violent beating of a woman by McLaughlin over a drug dispute, Rowell offered to protect the woman by bringing her to New York. Once in New York, Rowell took the woman’s cell phone and identification, thereby making her feel she was not free to leave his residence.

     In Bennington, Rowell supervised drug trafficking locations and sold and distributed illicit narcotics for the organization. Rowell also traveled to New York City to obtain more drugs and bring them back to Bennington, Vermont, for the organization to be redistributed.

     First Assistant U.S. Attorney Drescher commended the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bennington Police Department, the Rutland City Police Department, the Vermont State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which led to the successful prosecution of Rowell.