Friday, April 13, 2018
Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced a series of steps to protect the Fair Haven Union High School community from a teenager who allegedly threatened a school massacre — but may soon be freed from prison.
The news came amid a flurry of developments in the case involving 18-year-old Jack Sawyer.
Earlier in the day, Sawyer’s attorney confirmed that her client had been served with an order, sought by Rutland County State’s Attorney Rosemary Kennedy, requiring him to not possess or buy any weapons after his release.
The "extreme risk protection order" was granted Thursday, one day after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that there's not enough evidence to justify holding Jack Sawyer without bail. The ruling also indicates that the charges against him could be dismissed.
Tags: Jack Sawyer , Fair Haven Union High School , Kelly Green , Rosemary Kennedy , Phil Scott , Vermont Supreme Court , gun control , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
The ruling could lead to Jack Sawyer, 18, being released from prison while he awaits trial. Further, it may indicate that prosecutors will struggle to prove their high-profile case against him.
The ruling was handed down even as Gov. Phil Scott signed historic gun-control legislation that was largely inspired by Sawyer's February arrest.
Defense attorneys representing Sawyer, who authorities say planned a Parkland, Fla.-style shooting, have argued that there is not enough evidence to charge him with attempted murder. There is a big difference, they contend, between planning a crime and attempting to carry it out.
Prosecutors charged Sawyer with three counts of attempted murder and one count of attempted aggravated assault with a weapon.
Tags: Jack Sawyer , Vermont Supreme Court , Fair Haven Union High School , school shooting , Rosemary Kennedy , Image , Web Only
U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan told lawmakers that the state recorded a record 107 opiate-related overdoses in 2017, and two-thirds of the deaths were linked to fentanyl.
"We desperately want all 107 of those people back and, unfortunately, my colleagues across the country are experiencing similar tragedies," Nolan said.
Tags: Christina Nolan , Cory Booker , Dick Durbin , fentanyl , heroin , opiates , Opioid Crisis , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
After a court hearing on the investors' lawsuit against state officials, Barr told reporters he had evidence that one of the 10 defendants had been arrested on an EB-5 trip to China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Barr said he would provide evidence of the incident in a memo he was scheduled to file with the court in two weeks. On Monday — the due date — Barr filed the memo. It made no mention of his allegation.
Tags: Russell Barr , Vermont , EB-5 , Attorney General's Office , Chandler Matson , Thomas Carlson , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Vermont State Police investigated an allegation in 2014 that a state employee had been arrested while on an EB-5-related trip in China and found no evidence to support the claim, Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson said Tuesday.
The unusual statement was the latest official response to an incendiary allegation levied by Stowe attorney Russell Barr. He has sued state officials on behalf of EB-5 investors who lost money in the Jay Peak scandal. After a court hearing on the investors' lawsuit last week, Barr told reporters he has evidence that one of the 10 defendants had been arrested on an EB-5 trip to China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Anderson revealed that Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing made a complaint to the Vermont State Police Internal Affairs Unit in October 2014, alleging that a state employee had been arrested on a trip in September 2013. Toensing did not provide the employee's name or the reason for the supposed arrest, but said that members of the Vermont State Police Executive Protection Unit who went to China "would have been aware of that arrest" and "should have reported the possible illegal conduct," according to Anderson.
Tags: EB-5 , Phil Scott , Brady Toensing , Thomas Anderson , Vermont State Police , Peter Shumlin , Jay Peak Resorts , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Vermont registered 107 non-suicide fatal overdoses in 2017, up from 106 in 2016 and 75 in 2015.
Health Department data make clear that the spread of fentanyl, a synthetic opiate many times more powerful than heroin, has been a major driver of the problem.
Two-thirds of the fatalities in 2017 involved fentanyl, up from 50 percent in 2016, according to the department. The number of opiate overdose fatalities involving fentanyl in Vermont has nearly quadrupled since 2014.
Meanwhile, fatal overdoses that involved heroin and prescription drugs fell in 2017, though many people overdose with a mixture of drugs in their system.
Tags: fentanyl , Health Department , heroin , opiate , Opioid Crisis , overdose , Tracy Dolan , Image , Web Only
“This has been an issue as of recently, particularly at Springfield at the Southern State Correctional Facility,” Deputy Corrections Commissioner Mike Touchette testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning. “We’ve had about a dozen drones fly over that facility in the last year.”
Tags: drone , prison , corrections , contraband , crime , Mike Touchette , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan is challenging the veracity of an explosive claim that an attorney for investors defrauded in the EB-5 scandal made on Monday.
After a court hearing on the investors' lawsuit against state officials, Stowe attorney Russell Barr told reporters he has evidence that one of the 10 defendants had been arrested on an EB-5 trip to China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Barr declined to provide additional information, but said he would include it in future court filings.
In a statement Tuesday, Donovan said that Barr filed a public records request in November seeking state documents pertaining to "an arrest, detainment or holding of any state employee while traveling overseas in promotion of the Vermont Regional Center and its related projects."
Tags: T.J. Donovan , Vermont Attorney General's Office , EB-5 , Jay Peak , Russell Barr , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 19, 2018
Russell Barr, one of the attorneys representing investors in the Jay Peak fraud case, alluded to the allegation in court, telling a Lamoille County judge only that an official had been arrested while abroad on an EB-5 trip. Afterward, Barr told reporters outside the courtroom that he has evidence that the official, one of 10 defendants in the suit, was arrested in China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Barr declined to offer additional details, saying he would include them in future court filings. Seven Days was unable to verify the claim.
"It’s been very hard to get to the truth simply because you have state officials who have tried to hide this,” Barr told reporters.
Tags: EB-5 , Jay Peak , Ariel Quiros , Bill Stenger , Thomas Carlson , Robert Barr , Chandler Matson , Image , Web Only
Friday, March 9, 2018
The suburban city's manager, Kevin Dorn, chose Burke to replace current Chief Trevor Whipple, who plans to retire in January 2019. Whipple's held the top cop job for a dozen years.
Burke is expected to sign a contract within the next few weeks and start August 1, Dorn said Friday morning. The new and current chiefs would overlap on the job to smooth the transition.
Dorn personally recruited Burke and called him a “highly qualified" and "outstanding" candidate. Dorn said salary had not been finalized.
Burke will "meet and greet" South Burlington residents Monday night at 6 p.m. at City Hall on Dorset Street.
Tags: Shawn Burke , South Burlington police , chief , Burlington , police , Brandon del Pozo , Kevin Dorn , Image , Web Only