A former Stowe man termed by prosecutors as a “person of interest” in the killing of two Massachusetts men last October has been indicted on new federal charges, including one alleging he discharged a firearm in a drug crime.
A federal grand jury in Vermont returned the indictment against Theodore Bland, 29, on Thursday, charging him with a series of drug and firearms charges.
Investigators have not publicly identified any suspects in the double homicide case, and they have released little information, other than to say that it may have been drug-related.
However, in an earlier filing in February in a separate federal case against Bland, federal prosecutors described him as a “person of interest” in the two homicides.
Vermont State Police reported Oct. 25 discovering the bodies of Jahim Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, and Eric White, 21, of Chicopee, in a wooded area of Eden, about a mile apart from each other. Both men had been shot and killed, according to state police.
The families of the two men had reported them missing 10 days earlier. The families told police that the two men had been traveling together and had not been in touch for several days, state police said in a press release at the time.
The indictment returned Thursday against Bland does not identify him as the person who pulled the trigger in killing the two Massachusetts men, nor does it even name the victims. Instead, the charging document stated that Bland allegedly discharged a firearm in Vermont during a drug trafficking crime “on or about” Oct. 12, 2023.
The indictment also named a co-defendant, Dilan Jiron, alleging that he assisted Bland “in order to prevent the offender’s apprehension, trial and punishment.”
Another person, in a separate drug-related count in the same indictment, whose name was redacted from the document, had also allegedly “conspired” with Bland to distribute illegal drugs in Vermont between Sept. 7 and Oct. 15, 2023.
David Sleigh, an attorney representing Bland, was on the road Friday and said he hadn’t yet seen the indictment and as result, couldn’t comment.
Sleigh did say he was contacted earlier Friday by a federal prosecutor who informed him that the indictment had been returned and that prosecutor “made some reference” to the two men whose bodies were found in Eden nearly a year ago.
“But, like I said, I haven’t seen it, I haven’t had a chance to talk to Theo,” Sleigh added.
Bland, according to Sleigh, was currently incarcerated in Rhode Island awaiting sentencing in a separate federal case in Vermont in which he had earlier reached a plea agreement.
Bland pleaded guilty in April in federal court to a charge of possessing a firearm — a Mossberg shotgun — while being an unlawful user of controlled substances. That charge was brought against Bland in late October 2023.
A plea deal in that case called for a 14-month prison term for Bland, however, a sentencing date has not been set.
According to court filings related to that case, Bland allegedly brandished a shotgun while threatening the driver of a vehicle at Simon’s convenience store in South Burlington on March 17, 2023.
Federal prosecutors, through a spokesperson, declined comment Friday on the new indictment against Bland.
Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘Person of interest’ in double homicide case faces new drug, firearm charges.