By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

BURLINGTON — A Bennington man, who is awaiting trial on a charge he killed his girlfriend five years ago, has reached a plea deal to resolve the state murder charge and his upcoming sentencing in federal court for gun and drug convictions, court records show.

Deven Moffitt, 34, of Gage Street was scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Burlington this Friday on federal gun and drug charges, but the judge postponed it this week after being told there is a proposed global resolution to resolve all his state and federal cases, court records show.

Moffitt also has been scheduled to go on trial Jan. 7 in Vermont Superior Court in Bennington for a second-degree murder charge in the 2019 strangulation death of Jessica “Red” Hildenbrandt, 43, of Ballston Spa, N.Y..

Defense lawyer Kevin Henry, in a motion filed in federal court this week, told Chief Judge Christina Reiss that a package deal to clear all the cases is moving forward. Henry said the prosecution was unopposed to the motion to continue the hearing.

Terms of the plea deals for the state and federal cases were not disclosed in the federal court filing. No plea agreement has been filed in the state case, Court Operations Manager Wendy Dickie in Bennington said this week.

“The state and federal government and Mr. Moffitt have reached an agreement that will resolve the state case, which includes an agreement to present this court with a jointly recommended sentencing range for the federal conviction,” Henry wrote.

“Procedurally, the agreement requires that Mr. Moffitt enter a guilty plea to an amended information in the state court before he is sentenced in this case,” Henry wrote the federal court.

Once that happens in state court, Henry wrote, the federal court will be alerted so it can proceed.

Vermont Superior Court has set aside three weeks for Moffitt’s trial starting with jury selection on Jan. 7, Dickie said this week.

There is a hearing on several pending motions planned for Jan. 2 that could give Moffitt a chance to sign off on the plea deal so the federal sentencing could proceed.

Attempts to reach Henry and defense lawyer Robert Sussman, who is handling Moffitt’s homicide case, were unsuccessful in recent days.

Bennington County Deputy State’s Attorney Jared Bianchi, the lead prosecutor, also did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Moffitt has been linked to a very dangerous gang known as The Bloods, and with a one of its chapters known as “Murda, Money and Sex in Jersey City, N.J.” Hildenbrandt said in a March 2019 police interview, court papers note. She told police at that time she was in fear for her life because of death threats by Moffitt, records show.

Moffitt pleaded innocent to the homicide charge after his arrest in June 2022.

Hildenbrandt’s jawbone was found Sept. 17, 2019 in a gravel pit off Somerset Road in Searsburg and more parts and a shallow grave were located over the following days, then-State Police Detective Sgt. Thomas Truex said in court papers.

It took until early July 2020 to confirm Hildenbrandt’s identity through DNA, Truex said. It took almost three years after the killing to develop enough evidence to arrest Moffitt, state police said. Hildenbrandt had last been in touch with her family in July 2019.

Moffitt also pleaded not guilty earlier this month to two new charges for obstruction of justice in the case. Those charges each carry a possible life sentence because the state wants Moffitt designated as a habitual offender, if convicted, records show.

A third new charge of aggravated domestic assault was dismissed this month at arraignment after there was some question as to whether the incident happened in Windham County. Hildenbrandt said she was struck in the ear and not allowed to go to the hospital right away in Brattleboro, court records said. Three days later she went to a hospital in Bennington, which confirmed treatment for loss of hearing, records show.

A federal court jury in Burlington in May found Moffitt guilty initially on two drug and gun charges: possession of both fentanyl and cocaine and a second count of possession of a fully loaded .22-caliber revolver and a loaded 9-mm pistol with the safety off to help further his drug trafficking business. Both charges stem from his June 1, 2022 arrest in Bennington.

After delivering the two guilty verdicts, the jury was asked to consider a third felony charge: whether Moffitt was guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm when he was eventually arrested that day in Bennington. It took 5 minutes to convict on the third charge.

Moffitt has a lengthy criminal record and that’s why Bennington County prosecutors want him treated as a habitual offender if convicted in the homicide case.

He was sentenced to 23-to-24 months in prison for escape on April 12, 2022; one-to-two years in prison for unlawful trespass into an occupied residence on Nov. 16, 2015; and 30-months to eight years for aggravated assault on Aug. 6, 2009 — all in Bennington County, records show.

Moffitt is well known to police. One month before his arrest, Moffitt sold 100 bags of suspected fentanyl/heroin to an informant in Bennington, court records show.

The federal and state charges are intertwined. State troopers were attempting to arrest Moffitt on the state murder charge when he tried to flee from them in June 2022. The arrest on Jefferson Avenue came after a short foot chase from the Brookside Apartments at 323 South Street near Grandview Street.

Federal prosecutors later charged Moffitt with the gun and drug counts based on what was found when he was apprehended.

Vermont State Police reported they seized 3,750 bags of fentanyl, along with 20 grams of crack cocaine and 22.5 grams of powder cocaine during Moffitt’s arrest.

Officials said troopers also confiscated two loaded handguns: a 9-mm Hi-Point pistol and a .22-caliber High Standard revolver along with $16,474 in cash from a black fanny pack that Moffitt was wearing while fleeing.

Felons and drug users are both prohibited from possessing any firearms because of their felony record, officials have said.

Judge Reiss has ordered the forfeiture of the two firearms based on the testimony and evidence presented during the federal trial.

Henry, a veteran defense lawyer and former Vermont police officer, had tried to get the federal charges dismissed at the end of the government’s case during the trial, but Reiss rejected the move.

Henry tried again after the trial to secure a new trial or overturn the verdict, but Reiss in a 14-page decision on Sept. 23 rejected both requests.

The plea deal appeared to be in the works behind the scenes in recent weeks.

The sentencing has now been postponed three times. Ten days before a sentencing, both the defense and prosecution are directed by the judge to file sentencing memos outlining where they stand about possible prison sentences. No memos were filed with Judge Reiss.

The federal sentencing was set for Nov. 11, Nov. 26 and Dec. 27. No new date was set by Judge Reiss when she ruled on the continuance late Tuesday afternoon.

Then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia L. Torti had maintained in her opening statement at trial that it was a straightforward case. She said Moffitt was carrying all the tools of his drug business when confronted by police. She said Moffitt had his loaded guns for protection, over $16,000 in drug profits and he had his cocaine and fentanyl in several thousand individual baggies available for sale.

Moffitt never took the witness stand. Henry did not present any defense witnesses, but used cross examination to try to poke holes in the testimony offered by people called by the prosecution.

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