By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First

A Burlington man, who missed a potential death sentence for gunning down two of his competing out-of-state drug dealers, was sentenced in federal court on Monday to consecutive life sentences.

New details about the brutal and senseless killing by Theodore Bland, 31, formerly of Stowe, because of a drug debt Oct. 12, 2023 were outlined during the more than one-hour sentencing.

Bland murdered Jahim “Debo” Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Mass. and Eric “E” White, 21, ​of Chicopee, Mass. at a trailer at 497 Eden Road in Lowell three years ago.  Their bodies were found about two weeks later about a mile apart in the town of Eden in nearby Lamoille County.

The prosecution and the family of one victim both noted during the sentencing that the federal case highlights the ongoing failure of the Vermont state judicial system.

A state judge in Burlington had ordered Bland in March 2023 to be under a 24-hour curfew and not to possess any firearms following his arrest when he pointed a gun at another man outside a South Burlington convenience store.

“The defendant’s conduct is some of the most serious and reprehensible that has been prosecuted in our district in recent years, and he showed an utter disregard for the value of human life,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Turner wrote in his sentencing memorandum.

The potential death penalty was taken off the table when Bland agreed to admit to the two killings and accept consecutive life sentences, along with lesser penalties for some other federal drug and gun charges.

During the sentencing before a packed courtroom, Turner said Bland shot White once in the head as he slept.

Solomon was shot in the chest as he came back from the bathroom, but did not immediately die and was struggling to breathe, according to Turner.

According to his own statements, and witness accounts, Bland saw Solomon struggling with a perforated lung and hemothorax, before shooting him four more times in the face, Turner wrote

One witness said when he heard a victim struggling Bland said, “Just (expletive) die already….stop fighting….it’ll be over soon,” Turner wrote.

Turner said the shooting was over a drug debt that Bland owed and that he wanted to steal drugs and firearms from the two out-of-staters.  After killing them both, Bland took drugs and guns from their bodies and used them to cover up the crimes and force people to help dispose of the bodies.

Turner maintained that Bland showed little remorse and “bragged and laughed” to a friend, Amanda Laraway, about shooting both men. 

“He openly took credit for the murders to multiple people”  and he told one of his drug partners, Teesha Nooth, 30, that he had taunted Solomon as he lay dying, Turner said in court papers.

Bland returned to the trailer the night of Oct. 12, 2023 with Dilan Jiron and Laraway and with the help of Jiron, wrapped the bodies of both dead men in plastic sheeting, records show.  Bland had the guns stolen from White and Solomon and both Jiron and Laraway felt threatened, Turner wrote.

Bland bragged about the murders and suggested to Jiron and Laraway that he might do the same thing to them if they resisted his demands, Turner noted.

In court Monday, the families of the two victims had no sympathy for Bland.  The mothers of both victims said the young men each had been robbed of a lifetime of family events.

“My life changed forever,” said Belinda Vargas, mother of White.  She said there were no words to describe the loss of a son.   Vargas said as a mother there would be no more hugs from him in her lifetime.

“Eric was loved by his family and friends,” she said.  “I will never be the same.”

After the court hearing, Vargas was a little less diplomatic, “I wish he was dead,” she told Vermont News First as she walked out of court.

Susan Taliafero, the mother of Solomon, did not hold back her feelings in court.

“You are a monster,” Taliafero said and called Bland the “devil’s son.”

She said the family incurred $36,000 for the funeral, burial plot, headstone and other expenses.

Taliafero said she had been raised not to hate, but she did in this case.

“I wanted the death penalty,” Taliafero said.

Hannah Gene, a friend of White, noted they had grown up together and he was a young father with an incredible life ahead of him.

Senior Federal Judge William K. Sessions III said he understood the impact that the deaths had on both families.

“You never get over that,” Sessions said.

Sessions went through an elaborate calculation under the federal sentencing guidelines.  He told Bland that should be somehow get out of prison he would be under federal supervised release for four years.    Any release would be due to clemency or compassionate release due to a serious health issue.

Sessions also ordered Bland to pay $12,505 in restitution to the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services and $700 in court costs.

The defense team, led by attorney Bruce D. Koffsky, said Bland was resigned to the fact that he was going to be in prison for the rest of his life and was fortunate that the death penalty was taken off the table by the prosecution.

Bland, who was dressed in a red prison uniform,  was sorry for what he did, Koffsky said.  Members of the family in the audience scoffed, “too late” and “who cares?”

Bland, who also was flanked by St. Johnsbury attorney David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury, told the court that he hopes to make good by helping others who are in prison.

The court was told that Bland graduated from high school and attained an associate degree from the Community College of Vermont.  He also was relieved of duty by the U.S. Army due to a drug issue.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, which had the green light initially from the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. to seek the death penalty in the double homicide case, agreed to take capital punishment off the table.

Turner, who was assisted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Hill, said the Justice Department in Washington also agreed with the move.

Solomon and White had taken an Uber from downtown Burlington near City Hall Park to the Northeast Kingdom with Bland, their suspected killer, and with his then-girlfriend, Teesha Nooth, then-30, about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 12, 2023 — one day before the killings, according to court records.  The foursome was caught on video getting into the Uber in Burlington, police said.

The foursome was dropped off about 3:12 a.m. near Hazen Road and Larabee Hill Road in Albany.

After the fatal shootings, as police began to focus on suspects, an associate of Bland told Vermont State Police that the bodies could be found in remote areas near a pull off on the Albany-Eden Road in the town of Eden, records show.

Under the 13-page signed plea agreement, Bland admitted to causing the deaths of both Solomon and White. Both criminal charges carry life sentences.

He also has admitted to carrying a gun during a drug trafficking crime, which calls for a consecutive life sentence, the plea agreement notes.

Bland also has agreed to plead guilty to four other felony gun and drug charges, court records show. They include two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine on Oct. 12, and Oct. 14, 2023 and one count of conspiracy to distribute the two dangerous drugs between Sept. 7, 2023 and Oct. 15, 2023, records show.

He also has agreed to admit to conspiring to carrying and using firearms during October 2023 while trafficking drugs, records show.

For the non-death charges, Sessions imposed lesser sentences that will run concurrent with the life penalties.

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.

Bland’s parents and sister and brother were among the supporters sitting in the front row behind the defense table.

The double homicide is part of a complex interstate drug trafficking ring.

At least eight people have been charged in U.S. District Court as part of the case investigated by the Vermont Drug Task Force, State and Morristown Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Other less involved people have been charged in state court.

First Assistant U.S.  Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt said the families of the victims remained strong throughout the case.

“Theodore Bland committed two depraved, violent murders to secure greater illicit profits in the drug trade. This case is a chilling reminder of the extreme danger posed by the combination of drug trafficking and firearms,” he said.

“I am grateful to the family and friends of the victims who spoke at today’s sentencing hearing. Their words were powerful reminders of the true toll of Bland’s crimes. As they made clear, two consecutive life sentences will never erase the harm and pain caused by Bland’s violence,” Ophardt said.

He  praised the cooperative investigation of the Vermont State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Morristown Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“This crime shocked Vermont in its callousness and left the families of two young men with a grief that will never end,” said Vermont State Police Major Ashley Barnes, the commander of the criminal division. “We extend our sincere thanks to our law-enforcement partners at the federal, state and local level who joined together to locate the victims, identify the perpetrator, and ensure he faced justice.”

Ophardt said the case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a Department of Justice nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe.

Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department’s commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies, he said.

These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump’s Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities, Ophardt said.