A Bennington man awaiting a state trial in the killing of his ex-girlfriend was convicted Thursday of drug and firearms charges in federal court.
Court records show Deven Moffitt, 33, was found guilty on all three of his federal charges: possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possessing firearms while being a convicted felon.
Moffitt is scheduled for sentencing in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Nov. 15. He is facing a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years to a maximum of life, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont.
The guilty verdicts came mid-afternoon Thursday at the federal courthouse in Burlington, a few hours after the case was given to the jury for deliberation. The trial began Monday, and Moffitt was represented by defense attorney Kevin Henry.
The charges stemmed from Moffitt’s encounter with police in June 2022, when they sought to arrest him in the death of his former girlfriend, Jessica Hildenbrandt.
When Moffitt tried to flee from the arresting officers, according to a police affidavit, a bystander saw him place a bag inside a trash container. A search of the bag revealed 3,750 bags of suspected fentanyl, “distribution quantities” of crack and powder cocaine, as well as two loaded handguns. Police said they also found on Moffitt some $16,000 in cash.
Hildenbrandt, 43, went missing in July 2019 and her remains were discovered near an old gravel pit in Searsburg two months later. But they weren’t identified as hers until July 2020.
State prosecutors have charged Moffitt with second-degree murder, alleging he killed Hildenbrandt before burying her remains in a shallow grave. He is seeking to have the charge thrown out.
A jury trial in that case is scheduled for November in Bennington County. Moffitt has been detained without the option to post bail since June 2022.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Man awaiting trial in ex-girlfriend’s death found guilty of federal drug, firearms charges.