Colchester Man Sentenced to 240 Months for Involvement in Swanton Homicide

Burlington, Vermont - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont stated that on February 13, 2026, Dominique Troupe, 39, of Colchester, Vermont, was sentenced by United States District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford to a term of 240 months' imprisonment to be followed by a 4-year term of supervised release. Troupe previously was convicted by a jury on May 7, 2024, of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense wherein the firearm was discharged, conspiracy to commit robbery, and possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute after a six-day trial. Eric Raymond and Jesse Sweet were previously sentenced to twelve and six years, respectively, for their roles in the case following guilty pleas.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, by at least July of 2021, Troupe was a source of cocaine base (also known as "crack cocaine") to residents of Swanton, Vermont, with whom he conspired to distribute the drug. During the second half of 2021, Troupe maintained a consistent cocaine base distribution operation in the Swanton area that was trafficking multiple ounces of cocaine base each week. In January 2022, however, a rival distributor of cocaine base moved into the residence at 45 First Street in Swanton, resulting in a significant diminution in Troupe's sales. To address this problem, two of Troupe's Swanton-based re-distributors, Eric Raymond and Jesse Sweet, came up with the idea to rob the rival drug dealer of his drugs and money. When Troupe learned of this idea, he turned it into reality. Trial evidence showed that during the early morning of February 2, 2022, Troupe employed Eric Raymond, as well as another unidentified associate of Troupe, to attempt the armed robbery at 45 First Street. Troupe supplied a firearm to Eric Raymond to use during the crime and drove the men to and from the robbery. Tragically, during the attempted armed robbery, Elijah Oliver, 22, of Massachusetts was shot twice and killed. Following the murder of Oliver, Troupe left Vermont for a period of time and instructed a co-conspirator to cancel the cell phone account he had been using. After a couple of months, Troupe returned to Vermont and continued distributing cocaine base, including to a law enforcement confidential source. When Troupe was arrested on September 7, 2022, he was in possession of 188.9 grams of cocaine base.

First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of Vermont State Police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Swanton Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Turner and recently retired Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher. Troupe was represented by Kevin Henry, Esq.