An earlier version of this news story was published in the June 27, 2025 Caledonian-Record.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

A Hyde Park man has admitted he failed to report the fatal shooting of two out-of-state drug dealers in Orleans County almost two years ago and with conspiring to use firearms to further his drug trafficking, according to new federal court records.

Dilan D. Jiron, 28, has signed a plea agreement in which he admitted aiding the reported triggerman, Theodore “Theo” Bland, 29, of Burlington, and by concealing evidence in the double homicide in Lowell on Oct. 12, 2023.

The bodies of Jahim “Debo” Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Mass. and Eric “E” White, 21, of Chicopee, Mass., were found about two weeks later in the town of Eden in nearby Lamoille County, about a mile apart.

Dilan Jiron (left), nephew of VT judge Justin Jiron, admitted in court to helping Theo Bland (second from left), the son of a prominent Stowe attorney, kill reputed drug dealers Debo Solomon and Eric White in 2023.

Jiron is the nephew of controversial Vermont Superior Court Judge Justin Jiron, a former chief deputy state’s attorney in Chittenden County. Jiron had a lengthy history of ‘catch and release’ of felons before he was transferred to family court in 2023. Dilan Jiron is not the first family member to face criminal charges. Jasmine Jiron, daughter of Judge Jiron, was arrested August 13, 2022 for DUI and resisting arrest in Georgia, VT. His parents Patrick and Barbara pleaded no contest in 2018 to attempting to transport 60 lbs. of marijuana across country.

Bland is facing a potential death sentence if convicted. He was initially charged in the case, but following the election of Donald J. Trump as president, the U.S. Justice Department is considering seeking death sentences in more serious cases. The killing of two drug dealers falls under cases that need stiff penalties, the Justice Department said.

Bland comes from a well-known Stowe family, which includes his father, Richard Bland, a lawyer and a former member of the town school board.

Under the new 8-page signed plea agreement, Jiron admitted:

—Helping Bland transport the body of Solomon to a wooded area and attempted to hide it from detection by police in October 2023.

—Concealing the double homicide of Solomon and White from authorities.

— Knowingly conspiring with Bland and “A.L.” to facilitate the trade of a firearm for drugs by Bland to a third party.

—Bland possessed an AK-style pistol on Oct. 14, 2023.

—Transporting Bland with the AK-style pistol on an ATV from Hyde Park to Hardwick to facilitate a firearm-for-drugs trade on Oct. 14, 2023.

— Being present when Bland transferred the AK-style pistol to another person in exchange for crack cocaine and fentanyl.

The “A.L.” listed in the plea agreement for helping with the drugs-for-gun trade is believed to be Amanda Laraway, who admitted in June 2024 to a charge of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, records show. She has been allowed to enroll in the federal drug court. Laraway was found with both crack cocaine and fentanyl in a winter jacket while at Marshall’s store in Morristown on Dec. 4, 2023, records show.

When charged in federal court, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson reported Laraway had 21 active pre-trial cases, including seven felonies. Her criminal history also included 16 misdemeanor convictions, records show.

There is no known agreement with Jiron about a possible sentence mentioned in the plea deal.

As of Friday, no date had been set for Jiron to appear in U.S. District Court to admit his guilt before Senior Judge William K. Sessions III. The judge is likely to order a presentence investigation report before imposing any penalty.

Jiron has been in federal custody since October 2024. He blew off his initial federal court hearing, and Visiting Magistrate Judge Jerome J. Niedermeier of Massachusetts ordered him jailed pending trial when he was caught.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Van de Graaf has indicated there was an enormous amount of evidence for the defense to review in the double homicide. He said there were substantial investigative reports, search warrants, social media and more to review in the elaborate investigation.

Bland has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of carrying and discharging a firearm while drug trafficking on Oct. 12, 2023. The two counts — which involve the deaths of Solomon and White – could result in the death penalty upon conviction.

His defense team, led by St. Johnsbury lawyer David Sleigh, has petitioned the court to add a Connecticut lawyer with a history of death penalty cases. Francis L. O’Reilly of Fairfield has been involved in eight federal capital cases, while also handling approximately 20 state homicide defense cases, the petition noted.

The third defendant named in the indictment, Justin “J.D.” Douglass, 37, of Hardwick, and Bland are charged with conspiring with others known and unknown to the grand jury between Sept. 7, 2023, and Oct. 15, 2023, to distribute crack cocaine (cocaine base).

Bland also faces charges of using and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and that he discharged the weapon on Oct. 12, 2023.

He also faces a charge of possession of both fentanyl and crack cocaine with intent to distribute both on Oct. 12, 2023.

Douglass has pleaded not guilty to the single drug charge.

Dilan Jiron is well known as a defendant in Vermont’s criminal courts, including those in Lamoille, Caledonia, and Franklin Counties, according to public records.

Jiron also has a history of failing to appear in state court as required, including at a hearing last fall, according to records.

Most State judges rarely take action to jail defendants who ignore a citation, a summons or a court order, including conditions of release in criminal cases — even with multiple violations in the same criminal case.

Jiron found a different atmosphere on the federal stage when he was a no-show. Jiron was ordered jailed without bail after he was arrested in St. Albans on the federal warrant for failure to appear.

Federal judges take a dim view of defendants who are disrespectful of court orders, whether in federal or state court.

It remains unclear why Jiron was never arrested when the federal grand jury indicted him on Sept. 12, 2024.

Instead, Dilan Jiron was issued a summons a week later, inviting him to criminal court. When Jiron ignored the hearing, Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle approved a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Turner for an arrest warrant.

Van de Graaf, the prosecutor, said in a motion that Jiron never reported the two fatal shootings to police, agreed to conceal the deaths and continued to assist the shooter, including helping to hide one of the bodies.

“The defendant has a history of abusing cocaine, heroin and fentanyl over a period of years. He engaged in stealing merchandise for drug dealers in order to support that habit,” Van de Graaf wrote.

He outlined in detail Jiron’s lack of cooperation with court orders and proceedings.

Family members and police have said Solomon and White got to know each other while serving time for juvenile crimes in Massachusetts. They also have subsequent adult criminal convictions, records show.

Family members said the young men were in Vermont to sell drugs, records note.

Bland, who most recently lived in Burlington, grew up in Lamoille County, mostly in Stowe. He is being held without bail.

Vermont News First citing its own investigation, interviews and court records reported last year that Bland had helped plan and carry out the double homicide.

Bland also recruited help to dispose of the bodies in Eden near the Lowell town line, records showed.

The double shooting on Oct. 12, 2023, happened at a mobile home at 497 Eden Road in Lowell, although some witnesses said the trailer was in the town of Albany, officials said. It was the residence of Donald “D.J.” Billow, police said.

Investigators reported Billow noted it was his grandmother’s residence, but Douglass was going to rent a room. Billow also knew two “plugs” — street talk for drug dealers or suppliers — were staying at the trailer, police said. They were believed to be White and Solomon, who were initially staying at an Airbnb in Stowe.

On the day of the shooting, Billow said he only got into the kitchen when he saw Bland “going crazy and running around with a firearm. Billow advised he observed ‘Theo’ shooting the gun down the hallway at the door to the bedroom,” court records note.

Billow said he did not see anybody get shot, and he decided to flee the trailer, court records show.