By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

A former Stowe man, who is believed to be the triggerman in a double homicide in Orleans County last Fall, has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for brandishing a firearm during an unrelated incident in South Burlington last year.

Theodore “Theo” Bland, 29, of Burlington had struck a plea agreement last spring in federal court that called for a 14-month prison sentence.

Bland had pleaded guilty to possessing a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun on March 17, 2023, while being an unlawful user of controlled substances and knowing that he was an unlawful user of controlled substances.

Under the plea agreement, Bland agreed to forfeit the shotgun that he flashed outside Simon’s Convenience Store on Shelburne Road near Laurel Hill Drive in South Burlington in March 2023.  

He also forfeited the five shotgun shells in the firearm during the sentencing on Monday.

Bland maintained he was attempting to rescue his then girlfriend Teesha Nooth, 30, and her friend, Danielle Lemieux, 31, South Burlington Police said.

The women claimed Walter Biggs, 58, of Colchester was attempting to get them to trade crack cocaine for sex with them, police said. Bland arrived and used the shotgun to get the women into his car and flee.  

The shotgun was seized after it was spotted in plain view in the backseat of his car when it was stopped several hours later by state police in Stowe.  Lemieux admitted the trio had smoked crack cocaine for four hours before they were stopped in Stowe, South Burlington Police Detective Martin Maloney said in a court affidavit.

As part of the plea deal, the prosecution agreed to dismiss two counts of sale of heroin on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, 2023 that were reportedly made at a “mother-child” wing at an unnamed hospital for $50 each, a prosecutor said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Turner said the sales were set up through Facebook and completed using the Cash App, but offered no additional details, including which hospital.

Senior Judge William K. Sessions III told Bland, who comes from a well-known Stowe family, on Monday he would be on federal supervised release for two years once he is discharged from prison.

Bland will get credit for time served since about Nov. 1, 2023, which, with good time, could mean the sentence will be completed shortly.

However, Bland won’t be getting out of prison soon.  An hour after the sentencing, Bland pleaded not guilty four floors up in a different federal courtroom to three felony counts, including charges related to the double homicide.

Defense lawyer David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury said his client would not contest the detention request filed in the latest case by prosecutors in the double homicide case.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle said he would keep a Jan. 17 deadline for pre-trial motions that had been set for two co-defendants.

The new indictment against Bland includes a charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and a charge of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and discharging that firearm during the offense last October.

Jahim “Debo” Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Mass. and Eric “E” White, 21, of Chicopee, Mass. were killed by the gunshots fired by Bland in a house in Lowell on Oct. 12, 2023, according to court records.

About a half dozen family members and friends of the victims made the trip from Massachusetts to attend the two court hearings. They did not offer any comments before leaving the courthouse. 

The new indictment names Dilan Jiron, 28, of Hyde Park and Justin “JD” Douglass, 37, of Hardwick as co-defendants.

Jiron, a nephew of State Judge Justin Jiron, is charged for offering assistance and comfort to Bland in order to prevent his apprehension, trial and punishment, the indictment said.

Douglass is charged with conspiring with Bland and others between Sept. 7, 2023 and Oct. 15, 2023 to distribute crack cocaine (cocaine base.)

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 Douglas 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. 

An associate of Bland directed police to the general area where the bodies were eventually found Oct. 23 and 24, 2023, Vooris wrote.

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, Nooth, 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, State Police Detective Sgt. James Vooris said in court papers.

The case has shown a complex and intertwined network of drug traffickers involved in the distribution of multiple kinds of controlled substances covering Chittenden, Lamoille and Caledonia counties last fall, according to public records.