A Connecticut man awaiting sentencing for a state murder charge in the death of a Derby woman was ordered Monday to serve 13 years and one month in federal prison for drug trafficking offenses.
Judge William K. Sessions III handed down the 157-month sentence to Jakiy Tramaine Corey Keith, 26, in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Keith had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, and to carrying and using a firearm during a drug crime.
“This defendant was in charge of this particular location,” Sessions said, describing Keith as the leader of a drug operation that controlled illegal narcotics in Orleans County for more than a year.
Keith faces a separate sentencing later this year on a charge of second-degree murder in state court for the Feb. 2, 2024, shooting death of 29-year-old Kayla Wright inside a home on Route 100 in Troy. He originally faced first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in February to the reduced charge and unauthorized removal of a body.
Under the plea agreement, the prosecution and defense can argue for any allowed sentence. Second-degree murder carries 20 years to life in prison.
Court documents say the shooting stemmed from drug trafficking in the Northeast Kingdom, and Keith feared Wright would report his activities to police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher said Keith, of Hartford, Connecticut, traveled to Vermont to manage the drug trade and spread an “atmosphere of terror.”
Defense attorney Chandler Matson requested a sentence about two years shorter, citing Keith’s traumatic upbringing. Keith, wearing a sweatshirt reading “Ruthless,” apologized in court and said he was working to “better myself.”
Several other people involved in the drug operation have also been charged federally.
NEK will be looking into the status and outcomes of the other defendants arrested in connection with this drug ring.
Photo: David Dibert via Pexels. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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