by Mike Donoghue

BURLINGTON — A Newport Center man, who a state judge released despite pleas that he should be admitted to an inpatient psychiatric care facility, will get a chance to soon learn about the stricter public safety standards used in the federal court system in Vermont when he appears for a gun case.

Cody M. Myott, 30, is now facing a federal charge of illegal possession of 3 loaded firearms while being a convicted felon, according to new criminal complaint filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in U.S. District Court in Burlington.

The federal charge is an outgrowth from a traffic stop of Myott by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with the U.S. Border Patrol on Sunday Oct. 29, records show.  The two agencies often interact because of the international border being nearby.

U.S. Border Patrol Agent James F. Loomis of the Intelligence Division, who recently was assigned to the ATF Task Force in Vermont, said in court papers that Myott had two loaded rifles in his car and also was carrying .45-caliber pistol in a holster on his waistband during the traffic stop.  The pistol was removed after the Border Patrol arrived to help back up two Orleans deputy sheriffs, Loomis said.

Myott’s criminal history includes a 2013 conviction for felony unlawful trespass into an occupied residence and he initially received a deferred sentence, which would have allowed him to wipe the crime off his record if he stayed out of trouble, but he violated his probation terms.  Myott was re-sentenced in 2018 to 1-to-3 years in prison with all but 30 days suspended and placed on probation, records show.

Myott has been in state court in Newport this fall for a variety of criminal charges, including assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon, records show.  Orleans County State’s Attorney Farzana Leyva and a mental health screener both had recommended during an Oct. 30 court hearing after a preliminary review that the Myott have a full inpatient evaluation because of his behavior, records note. 

Vermont Superior Court Judge Justin Jiron denied the joint request for the inpatient evaluation and sent Myott home with conditions. 

A few hours later Vermont State Police responded to an aggravated domestic assault complaint on Church Street in Newport Center, records show.  State Trooper Ian Alford said the investigation revealed Myott had assaulted a household member – his wife – and that her two children also were victims, court records show.

He was lodged overnight without bail at a Newport prison. He pleaded not guilty to the aggravated domestic assault charge and two misdemeanor counts for domestic assault, records show.  This time Jiron agreed Myott should be held without bail on the state charges.

Myott still wants to be released, but the new federal charge means a detainer has been filed against him by the U.S. Marshal Service.  If Jiron grants Myott bail, he won’t be going anywhere until he appears in U.S. District Court, which has strict bail laws compared to the lax state bail provisions.

The federal gun case stems from a state investigation that caused some of Myott’s recent legal trouble.

Orleans County Deputy Mark Hinton spotted a Honda Fit on Oct. 29 driving north on Bear Mountain Road near Farrar Road in Newport about three-fourths of a mile south of the international border.  Hinton, who often interacts with the Border Patrol as part of his duties, has been trained to be on the watch for possible human and drug smuggling in the area, including on Bear Mountain Road, Loomis said.

Hinton became suspicious when he saw the car driving north in the southbound lane and the driver hanging out the window, Loomis said. 

The deputy radioed his emergency dispatcher about the car’s registration and soon learned it was expired, Loomis said. Hinton activated the blue light on his fully marked sheriff’s cruiser, but the Honda Fit did not stop immediately and continued for about a mile before yielding.

Hinton said when he approached the car he saw a lever-action rifle resting against the empty passenger seat with its barrel in the foot area. Loomis wrote in a court affidavit.  When asked for his license or registration papers, Myott said he did not have them.  He was asked if the rifle was loaded and Myott responded it was and began to reach for it, but Hinton told him to leave it alone.  Hinton radioed for a back-up deputy sheriff.

Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Cotnoir soon arrived, and Hinton removed the gun from the car and away from Myott, officials said.  Hinton confirmed it was loaded and then cleared it to make it safe.  After putting it in his sheriff’s cruiser Hinton said he returned to Myott’s car and spotted a second bolt-action hunting rifle and determined it was loaded, Loomis said.  Hinton said he also placed that firearm into his cruiser after removing the live cartridges.

Cotnoir was monitoring Myott when the dispatcher radioed the suspect was “Brady Disqualified” – meaning that a federal database showed the suspect had one or more criminal convictions that made it illegal for him to possess or own any firearms, Loomis said.  The message refers to a gun law named for James Brady, a former press secretary for President Ronald Reagan.  Brady became a gun control advocate after he was shot in the head and Reagan wounded during an assassination attempt by John Hinkley in March 1981.

A further examination of the two rifles “found areas of the firearms that had been filed, ground or gouged, suggesting that serial numbers had been removed,” Loomis said.

The sheriff’s department reach out to ATF Special Agent Tam Vieth, who determined the Winchester .30-30 rifle  and the Savage Arms bolt-action 30-06 rifle with a mounted scope both lack serial numbers.  The areas that would contain the numbers had been filed, removed or obliterated, officials said.

The Springfield .45-caliber semiautomatic also had all of its serial numbers removed, Vieth reported.

ATF Special Agent Eric Brimo, an expert on origins of firearms, determined all three guns were not created in Vermont and had crossed stateliness, making Myott’s possession a federal offense, Loomis reported.