BURLINGTON – A Hardwick area man, who officials say is part of a sprawling police investigation that included a double homicide of two drug dealers in the Northeast Kingdom two years ago, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a federal drug and gun charge.
Vermont State Police photo
Vermont State Police photo
Hunter Patten, 25, of Walden, is charged with possession of a .22-caliber Llama pistol on Oct. 15, 2023, while being an unlawful user of and addicted to controlled substances, according to his federal indictment.
Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle agreed to a verbal request by the defense to continue the detention hearing in U.S. District Court until Tuesday.
Defense lawyer Karen Shingler and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Turner acknowledged during the court arraignment that the new federal charge was part of a bigger ongoing state investigation.
Among the people attending the brief court hearing was a veteran Vermont State Police detective, who is the lead criminal investigator into the fatal shooting of Jahim “Debo” Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Mass. and Eric “E” White, 21, of Chicopee, Mass. Their families and police said the two men were in Vermont to sell drugs.
Solomon and White were shot dead in a home on Eden Road in Lowell on Oct. 12, 2023, police said. Their bodies were found about a mile apart in the town of Eden in nearby Lamoille County about two weeks later, records and Vermont State Police have said.
At least seven people have been charged in federal court as part of the investigation into the fatal shootings, drug trafficking and gun trading.
Vermont News First reported in December 2023 that Theodore “Theo” Bland, 29, of Burlington, was the main person of interest for the double fatal shooting. He was among three people eventually indicted on federal charges in the case, and a subsequent indictment now has Bland facing a possible death penalty for the two deaths, officials said.
Defense lawyer David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury, on behalf of Bland, said he was in Washington, D.C., earlier this summer to petition the U.S. Department of Justice to forgo capital punishment in the deaths of the two drug dealers.
Bland, formerly of Stowe, has pleaded not guilty to all the felony charges and is being detained pending trial.
Vermont State Police have been seeking Patten since the federal grand jury returned the indictment on June 12. Patten agreed to surrender on Wednesday. He is jailed at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town.
Patten refused before his federal court hearing Thursday to submit to a drug test when he met with Pre-Trial Services. As he was escorted from court, his mother shouted from the audience to him to take the drug test.
Patten, a Hazen Union High graduate, did tell the court that he has been treated for narcotics addiction in the past. Doyle noted Patten spent time at Valley Vista, a residential drug treatment facility in Bradford.
Shingler asked for 90 days to investigate all aspects of the federal case and to consider filing pre-trial motions. Doyle set a deadline of Oct. 29.
Shingler, a former state prosecutor, may have an uphill fighting for Patten’s release. Unlike state court, where judges routinely don’t take action against defendants that fail to show for court, commit crimes while on pre-trial release or routinely blow off conditions of release imposed by the court, the federal system addresses those failures head-on.
Turner filed a motion seeking Patten’s detention pending trial on grounds he was a risk to flee and was a danger for both the community and himself.
Turner noted that Patten has been addicted to controlled substances since at least 2023.
“The defendant has possessed and traded firearms multiple times during the preceding 24 months despite his ongoing use of controlled substances,” Turner wrote.
He noted Patten has a history of failing to appear for state court hearings. He also has been charged in state court with crimes that happened while he was out on pre-trial conditions for earlier cases, Turner said.
Hardwick Police had at least two recent incidents where Patten was uncooperative and fled from law enforcement, including driving recklessly at more than 100 miles per hour on a motorcycle, to avoid pending state arrest warrants. Records show.
Hardwick Police Chief Michael Henry responded to a report of two men passed out in a vehicle in a parking lot on May 21, court records show. The men eventually regained consciousness, and the driver got out of the car to talk with the police. He later returned to the car and locked himself inside with Patten in the passenger seat, records show.
Attempts to get them to open the doors failed, and the driver fled, almost hitting a Hardwick Police officer, Turner’s motion noted. The police pursuit was eventually abandoned due to safety concerns regarding the rate of speed.
One day later, Hardwick Police encountered Patten while they looked for another suspect at a local residence. Patten was standing in a garage at the home and said the suspect was in the house before closing the garage door.
As the officers headed to the back door and prepared a plan to find the suspect, they heard the garage door opening and saw Patten flee on a motorcycle. Pursuing officers clocked the motorcycle at more than 100 mph, but soon dropped the chase, Turner said.
“Patten’s history demonstrates a failure to abide by court conditions of release or to appear for court proceedings when summoned. Additionally, Patten’s use of controlled substances has led to his commission of multiple crimes involving drugs, firearms, and thefts that have created a risk to the safety of the community,” Turner wrote.
“Patten’s recent flight from law enforcement also highlights the risk to the community if he is released. For all of these reasons, there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of the community or Patten’s future appearance for proceedings,” he said.
An earlier version of this story misspelled the author’s name.
