Orleans County couple pleaded not guilty
An Orleans County couple pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday to drug trafficking charges stemming from an investigation that included the fatal shooting of Kayla Wright, 29, of Derby, in Troy last month. Bryanna Fields Rooney, 29, and her husband Thomas P. Rooney, 34, both of Troy, denied they knowingly and intentionally conspired with others both in Vermont and elsewhere to distribute cocaine and fentanyl and to possess both drugs with intent to distribute them since at least December 2023 and Feb. 7. Bryanna and Thomas Rooney also pleaded not guilty to a charge that, as owners of a home at 7021 Vermont 100, they allowed the residence to be used for the unlawful manufacturing, storing, distributing and using of both cocaine and fentanyl, the indictment said. They also are charged with a cocaine sale on Jan. 10. A third defendant, Jakiy Tramaine-Corey Keith, 24, of Troy, had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf Monday for four felony charges during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Burlington. He waived his appearance at the hearing and remained jailed at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. Authorities continue to seek two other unidentified defendants who have been added to the prosecution. Their names are blacked out on the new federal drug trafficking indictment returned by a grand jury sitting in Burlington last week.
