Philadelphia Man Sentenced For Vermont Federal Drug Crimes

Saturday, August 23, 2025, 7:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BURLINGTON, VT.- On Tuesday, a 44-year-old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, man was sentenced in Federal Court in Burlington, Vermont, to nearly eight years in federal prison for distributing large quantities of crack cocaine and fentanyl throughout the streets of Burlington, Vermont.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, Talbert Hall, 44, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont and was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss to 95 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Crack Cocaine and Fentanyl.

According To Court Documents

     According to charging documents filed with the District Court, during the summer and fall of 2023, Hill conspired with others to distribute illicit narcotics in the Burlington, Vermont area. On five separate occasions in September and October 2023, law enforcement Investigators conducted controlled buys of fentanyl from Hill and others working with him in a drug trafficking organization.

     On November 3, 2023, Investigators located Hill in Burlington, Vermont. As they approached Hill to take him into custody, he fled, dropping items as he ran on foot. When Investigators apprehended him, they found on his person and along the path that he fled on, around 1,000 single-dose baggies of fentanyl and eight to twelve packages of crack cocaine.

     After taking Hill into custody, Investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at a Burlington apartment associated with Hill and the drug trafficking organization. During the search, Investigators located and seized 16,000 single-dose baggies of fentanyl and a significant quantity of crack cocaine in a bedroom where Hill was staying.

The Drugs Seized Was The Largest The Burlington Police Department Had Ever Recovered

     During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Investigators presented testimony that the seizure of the narcotics in this case was one of the largest ever conducted by the Burlington Police Department. In total, Hill was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute more than one kilogram of fentanyl and a large quantity of crack cocaine.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Drescher commended the investigative work of the Burlington Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Office, which led to the successful prosecution of Hill.