NORTHAMPTON — A second Ludlow man was arraigned Friday in Northampton District Court on charges of heroin trafficking and conspiracy to violate drug law after a traffic stop in Williamsburg last month.
Alexander Hatcher, 20, pleaded not guilty to charges of heroin trafficking, conspiracy to commit drug law, no inspection sticker and failure to wear a seatbelt. He was appointed an attorney and released on personal recognizance.
An alleged co-conspirator, Rene Amaris, 22, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 13 to charges of heroin trafficking, possession with intent to distribute a class A drug, distribution of a class D drug and conspiracy to violate drug law. An attorney was appointed for him and his bail was set at $1,000 cash or $10,000 surety.
According to Williamsburg police, on Sept. 12 around 7 p.m., police pulled over a red Honda Accord traveling west on Route 9 after a random query found the car had not been inspected despite being registered.
Hatcher was allegedly driving the car with Amaris in a rear passenger seat and neither was wearing a seat belt, police said. While talking to Hatcher and Amaris, police reportedly smelled “the odor of both fresh and burnt marijuana” coming from inside the car. Another person, who was not arrested, was in the front passenger seat, according to court documents.
During the course of the traffic stop, Amaris allegedly produced an open container of marijuana and admitted to police that it was his. A further discussion between the operator, passengers and the police officer revealed that Amaris allegedly gave Hatcher some of his marijuana earlier in the day and that they smoked together, police said.
Hatcher reportedly gave police permission to search the car, at which point the officer asked Amaris about a backpack in the backseat. According to police, Amaris denied consent for police to search the bag. When told the bag would be searched regardless due to probable cause, Amaris allegedly admitted to the officer that he had a large amount of heroin in the backpack that he was transporting for sale, according to court documents.
Police allegedly found more than 45 “bricks” of heroin, with each “brick” containing approximately 50 bags of heroin packaged for sale in Amaris’ bag, according to a police report filed in court.
At first, Hatcher allegedly told police that he did not know Amaris was transporting drugs. However, police said, he eventually relented and admitted to the officer that he was given $100 from Amaris to drive him from Holyoke to North Adams, claiming he thought Amaris had just picked up marijuana in Holyoke.
Amaris allegedly told police that Hatcher knew he was buying drugs, police said. Amaris revealed he had planned to sell the heroin himself on the streets of North Adams, according to police. Hatcher was issued a citation and Amaris was arrested.
Amaris is due back in court on Oct. 16 and Hatcher is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 12.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.