A New York City drug dealer who brought thousands of prescription opioid pills into Vermont was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison.
Michael Foreste, who was profiled by Seven Days in April for his participation in an unusual prison treatment program, told U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III that his time spent in prison and the counseling he has received in recent months has changed his outlook.
“I now know what these pills do to the community,” Foreste said. “I never wish to cause this kind of harm again.”
Authorities allege that Foreste, 36, was the mastermind of one of the larger drug-dealing rings in recent Vermont history. He was arrested in 2012 on Interstate 91 with 659 oxycodone pills. After his conviction, Foreste was free pending an appeal when he and his supplier, New York City police officer Andre Clarke,* were arrested in an even higher-profile bust in June 2014. Clarke and another coconspirator took plea deals. Foreste was convicted after a jury trial in October.
Members of Foreste’s family and his fraternity brothers from St. John’s University, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2003, packed the gallery at U.S. District Court in Burlington on Monday for his sentencing.
His 16-year-old daughter, Jordan Foreste, told the court that her father has been deeply engaged in her life, even during his imprisonment.
“My father has always tried to do his best for me,” she said. “He pushed me. It would be nice to have him there to support me and my mother.”
Foreste’s attorney, Mark Kaplan, asked Sessions for a four-year sentence. And Foreste himself touted his progress in the prison therapy program as he argued for leniency.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan, though, pressed for a 15-year sentence, saying that Foreste helped fuel Vermont’s appetite for opiates.
“His dealing occurred in that pivotal time when addiction to pain pills was on the rise,” Nolan said. “We think he’s one of the biggest pill dealers the state has ever seen. He was one of the main drivers of the crisis.”
Nolan said she was skeptical of Foreste’s claims that he has turned his life around, wondering whether he was simply telling the judge “what he wanted to hear.”
Determining Foreste’s sentence was “particularly difficult,” said Sessions, given that he did not fit the typical profile of many drug dealers. The judge noted that Foreste was not violent or addicted and had a large support system.
But, added Sessions, Foreste had those same things going for him in 2012 when he pledged to straighten out — only to commit new crimes.
“It’s an open question as to whether he poses a significant risk of recidivism,” said Sessions before handing down his nine-year sentence.
Foreste has already served three years while awaiting trial and sentencing.
*Correction, May 23, 2017: A previous version of this story misidentified Andre Clarke.
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9 years for creating an epidemic that has destroyed countless families and killed hundreds, Judge Sessions has been played by a criminal with a psychology degree. I guess a law degree is not worth as much as you would think and you don’t have to be very smart to get one. Forests will be out and running his criminal enterprise suppling Vermont kids with more pills in no time. Thanks for your help fighting the drug problem in VT Judge Sessions. I hope you are dis-barred soon.
Here’s an idea, Seven Days . . . forgo the slick graphic that glamorizes this scumbag as if he were some kind of bad-boy rock-star, antihero.
Marianne1 I’m glad we agree that Foreste belongs in jail and I fully agree that doctors are just as responsible as Foreste for the drug problem that has gripped the nation, but the last line in your post lost me. How is a judge that allows a person that has been convicted multiple times of the same offense and does not issue a maximum sentence for the second offense allowed to stay in his position, even after US attorney Nolan stated that Foreste is the largest dealer of pills the state has seen. If you believe for a second that Mr. Foreste has turned his life around and won’t be selling drugs again as soon as he is released you are as niaev as Judge Sessions. People like Mr. Foreste thrive because of soft laws and soft judges that allow them to victimize people while they line their pockets. It’s to bad you can’t see that, it is that attitude that has allowed the problem to grow into the mess we have today. So ask yourself this if it were your family member that became addicted to Mr. Foreste’s drugs when would you want to see him on the streets again?
9 yrs wow..why so harsh..NOT!!! 9 yrs sentence that means he’ll do only what 2/3 yrs because he already served 3 waiting for trial. so 9 takeaway 3 leaves 6 and what get 3 yrs off for good behavior leave 3 yrs to serve..He should had gotten 20 yrs..U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III sure is gullible .can’t tell a lie from the truth..he must be a liberal, thinking that Foreste is telling the truth that he has changed..mmm he hasn’t changed at all..family support didn’t help him before..Not saying much for his lawyer either..Sessions should we give Foreste a hug,pat on the back and say now now don’t do it again be a good boy ya hear??? This sentence is a joke just like Judge William Sessions III…
Donna I’m sure glad that someone out there understands.