BURLINGTON — A former Stowe resident, who was facing potential death penalty sentences in the fatal shooting of two out-of-state drug dealers, has accepted a plea bargain that will provide him consecutive life terms in prison.

Theodore “Theo” Bland, 31, most recently of Burlington had pleaded not guilty in federal court in December to eight felony charges in his latest indictment, including gunning down the two out-of-state drug dealers at a mobile home at 497 Eden Road 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. Solomon was shot four times in the head and once in the chest, while White was shot once in the head, records show.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, which got the green light from the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. last fall to seek the death penalty, has now taken that off the table.

Under the 13-page signed plea agreement filed Thursday, Bland admits to causing the deaths of both Solomon and White during a drug trafficking crime on Oct. 12, 2023. Both criminal charges carry life sentences.

He also has admitted to carrying and using a gun on Oct. 14, 2023 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.

The other non-life sentences in prison carry penalties between 20 and 40 years in prison.   Bland,  also faces fines of up to $8 million.

No date has been set for the change of plea before Senior Federal Judge William K. Sessions III in Burlington.

Bland is scheduled to have a scheduling conference in the case on May 18.  That could be converted to a change of plea hearing, unless the court wants to move up the case.

Bland had been detained at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans until mid-December, but a new computerized inmate locater system used by the Vermont Department of Corrections showed on Thursday he is not in a Vermont prison – and has never been held in Vermont. The new updated tracking system for family, friends, the media and the general public also fails to show the whereabouts of other inmates known to be in Vermont prisons  

Vermont News First eventually found Bland at the Cheshire County Jail in Keene, N.H.

Vermont News First initially reported in December 2023 that Bland was the main person of interest in the double homicide. The story, which appeared in multiple newspapers in Vermont and Massachusetts, was based on Vermont News First’s own investigation, interviews and court records.

The government eventually used that VNF news story as a court exhibit in seeking Bland’s detention.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Turner and Jonathan Ophardt disclosed during a mid-October 2025 hearing that the death penalty would be sought.  Turner later wrote that the government was prepared to show several intent factors justifying the death penalty. They include Bland intentionally killed the victims and that he inflicted on purpose serious bodily injury that resulted in their deaths.

Turner also noted that among the aggravating factors is Bland’s criminal record for using a firearm in the past.

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.

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.

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.

Vermont Game Warden Dustin Snyder and his K-9, Fletch, found the body of Solomon on the evening of Oct. 24, records show.  As police combed the area the next day, Morristown Police Detective Lt. Todd Baxter located the body of White nearly a mile farther into the woods, police have said.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, Bland admits the following facts:

A. Beginning about Sept. 7, 2023, Bland knowingly and intentionally entered into an agreement with Teesha Nooth, Justin Douglass, 39, of Hardwick and others to distribute crack cocaine and fentanyl to drug customers in Vermont as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Between Sept. 7, 2023, and about October 15, 2023, Bland agreed with Nooth, Douglass, and others, in order to secure bulk supplies of crack cocaine and fentanyl, to transport the illegal drugs in order to deliver them to customers, and to distribute cocaine base and fentanyl to drug customers.

Bland and Nooth would pool their funds and assets in order to have sufficient funds to obtain bulk supplies of crack cocaine and fentanyl for distribution. During the course of the conspiracy, Bland’s conduct, including the conduct of others that was reasonably foreseeable to him, included more than 28 grams of crack cocaine.


B. Bland coordinated his drug activities with his co-conspirators, including Nooth and Douglass, via text and Facebook messaging and phone calls, including discussions of obtaining controlled substances for sale, the pricing of drugs for sale, the details of where drug trafficking and drug storage would occur at so-called ”trap” or “safe” locations, and coordinating transportation to conduct drug transactions.

C. Bland knowingly and intentionally distributed cocaine base to individuals in Lamoille County, on various dates between Sept. 7, 2023, and Oct. 15, 2023, in exchange for U.S. currency, controlled substances, and/or services, in furtherance of the drug, trafficking conspiracy.

D. Between September 7, 2023, and October 15, 2023, Bland carried and used firearms during and in relation to, and possessed firearms in furtherance of, the drug trafficking conspiracy. Bland carried and used firearms, and possessed firearms, in order to protect the drugs and proceeds belonging to the conspiracy.

E. On Oct. 12, 2023, Bland carried a firearm into the back bedroom of 497 Eden Road in Lowell, and discharged that firearm multiple times and unlawfully caused the deaths of Solomon and White with malice aforethought. Bland shot White once in the head, and shot Solomon four times in the head and one time in the chest;

F. Bland killed White and Solomon in order to obtain crack cocaine and fentanyl that the two Massachusetts dealers had in their possession. Bland’s use and discharge of the firearm on Oct. 12, 2023, was during and in relation to both the drug trafficking conspiracy and Bland’s possession with intent to distribute the crack cocaine and fentanyl that he took from Solomon and White.

G. On Oct. 12, 2023, Bland took crack cocaine and fentanyl from White and Solomon following the shootings. Bland possessed the two illegal drugs with the intent to distribute the substances, and did in fact provide a portion of those drugs to his co-conspirators to distribute to other customers. On October 12, 2023, Bland distributed other portions of the crack cocaine and fentanyl to various individuals, including Justin Douglass, Dilan Jiron, and Amanda Laraway to ensure their cooperation and assistance in concealing the shooting deaths of Solomon and White

H. On or about Oct. 12 and 13, 2025, Bland transported the two dead bodies to two wooded areas generally adjacent to Eden/Albany Road in Eden and attempted to conceal the bodies of Solomon and White at locations about 1 mile and 2.5 miles, respectively from the homicide scene on Eden Road in Lowell.

I. On Oct. 12, 2023, following the homicides of Solomon and White, Bland took possession of two firearms, a Taurus .357 caliber revolver and a Century Arms AK-style 7.62×39 chambered firearm that had been possessed by Solomon and White.

J. On or about Oct. 13, 2023, in Vermont, Bland gave a revolver-style firearm to Teesha Nooth with the agreement Nooth would transfer possession of the handgun to a drug supplier in exchange for controlled substances meant for distribution all in an effort to further the drug conspiracy.

K. Nooth took possession of the firearm on or about Oct. 13, 2023, and on or about October 13 or 14, did in fact exchange the firearm for controlled substances in furtherance of the drug conspiracy.

L. On or about Oct. 14, 2023, Bland, while in possession of the Century Arms AK-style 7.62×39 firearm, traveled from Hyde Park to Hardwick in an ATV with Dilan Jiron and Amanda Laraway in order to trade the firearm for cocaine base and fentanyl.

M. On or about Oct. 14, 2023; Bland transferred the AK-style firearm to Colin Mercier, 34, of Hardwick in exchange for crack cocaine and fentanyl. On that day Bland possessed the crack cocaine and fentanyl he received from Mercier with the intent to distribute those controlled substances to other individuals.