BURLINGTON -- A Bennington man, who is awaiting a state court trial in a 2019 homicide case, was convicted in federal court in Burlington on three gun and drug charges Thursday afternoon.
The jury found Deven Moffitt, 33, guilty initially on two federal charges: possession of both fentanyl and cocaine and a second count of possession of a fully .22-caliber revolver and a loaded 9-mm pistol with the safety off to help further his drug trafficking business.
Both charges stem from his arrest about 11:25 a.m. June 1, 2022.
After delivering the two guilty verdicts, the jury was asked to consider a third felony charge: whether Moffitt was guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm when he was eventually arrested that day in Bennington. It took 5 minutes to convict on the third charge.
The 6 men and 6 women on the jury were never told that the gun and drug charges stemmed from Moffitt's arrest on a murder charge.
He has pleaded not guilty to a state charge of second-degree murder in the death of Jessica "Red" Hildenbrandt, 43, of Ballston Spa, N.Y.. Parts of her body were found Sept. 17, 2019 in a gravel pit off Somerset Road in Searsburg and it took almost three years to develop enough evidence to arrest him.
Hildenbrandt had last been in touch with her family in July 2019.
The federal jury also was never told about Moffitt's criminal record during the main trial in an effort to avoid prejudice because it includes at least three felony convictions in Bennington County.
He was sentenced to 23-to-24 months in prison for escape on April 12, 2022; one-to-two years in prison for unlawful trespass into an occupied residence on Nov. 16, 2015; and 30-months to eight years for aggravated assault on Aug. 6, 2009, records show.
Felons and drug users are both prohibited from possessing any firearms because of his felony record, officials have said.
Vermont State Police reported as part of Moffitt's arrest officers seized 3,750 bags of fentanyl, along with 20 grams of crack cocaine and 22.5 grams of powder cocaine.
Police said officers also seized two loaded handguns: a 9-mm Hi-Point pistol and a .22-caliber High Standard revolver along with $16,474 in cash in a black fanny pack that Moffitt was wearing while fleeing.
Judge Christina Reiss also ordered the forfeiture of the two firearms based on the testimony and evidence presented during the trial.
Defense lawyer Kevin Henry of Burlington asked for 30 days to consider appropriate post-trial motions. Henry had tried to get the charges tossed out at the end of the government's case on Wednesday, but it was denied by the judge.
After court adjourned, Moffitt's sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 15.
Moffitt is well known to police. One month before his arrest, Moffitt sold 100 bags of suspected fentanyl/heroin to an informant in Bennington, court records show.
The federal jury heard testimony from nine prosecution witnesses over three days this week. Closing arguments were heard Thursday morning, along with an explanation of the relevant laws by Judge Reiss.
The jury deliberated for three hours, which included about a one-hour readback of testimony from Moffitt's girlfriend Harley D. Reynolds, 29, of Bennington. The jurors appeared focused on Reynolds' testimony concerning June 1, 2022 and especially the two handguns Moffitt possessed.
About a half hour after retiring back to the deliberation room to consider the readback, the jurors sent a note saying they had reached a verdict on the two charges.
Moffitt showed no reaction when the guilty verdicts were announced. He had "f-bombed" Judge Reiss eight times during a court hearing in January when he had another defense lawyer removed from the case. Five deputy U.S. Marshals and two Court Security Officers were in the courtroom for the verdict.
Reiss then told the jury it had one more issue to resolve. Was Moffitt a convicted felon in possession of one, two or no firearms on June 1, 2022?
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia L. Torti then announced both sides signed a stipulation that Moffitt had a previous felony conviction, but it never listed the crime(s). The only issue was whether he possessed one, two or no guns. The jurors ruled unanimously that Moffitt knowingly had possessed both on June 1, 2022.
Moffitt did not take the witness stand. Henry did not present any defense witnesses, but used cross examination to try to poke holes in the testimony offered by people called by the prosecution.
Torti had maintained in her opening statement that it was a straightforward case. She said Moffitt was carrying all the tools of his drug business when confronted by police. She said Moffitt had his loaded guns for protection, over $16,000 in drug profits and he had his cocaine and fentanyl in several thousand individual baggies available for sale.
Torti told the jurors they would see much of the evidence from body and cruiser camera videos.
Following the opening statements by lawyers on Monday, the prosecution called three law enforcement officers involved in the arrest of Moffitt on Jefferson Avenue. It came after a short foot chase from the Brookside Apartments at 323 South Street near Grandview Street.
State and Bennington Police were attempting to make an arrest in the homicide case after developing enough evidence during a 3-year investigation, officials said. He ran, but was eventually tackled by police.
The seized evidence was a large basis for the federal charges. Prosecutors and police have credited a concerned local citizen with tipping off law enforcement to Moffitt discarding a sling-style back pack while he was out-of-sight from pursuing officers. Moffitt lifted the cover of a recycle barrel and dropped the bag in as he ran past the front porch of a house.
State Trooper Matthew Conte, a member of the SWAT team, testified about attempts to get Moffitt to surrender peacefully, but the suspect ignored multiple commands from officers closing in on him.
Moffitt then fled, but not before he was struck with non-lethal bright neon green chalk balls fired by both Conte, who is based in St. Albans and Trooper Daniel Bohnyak of the Berlin barracks. One green chalk ball struck his buttocks and the other the sling-style bag, police said.
The green florescent marking was visible on his pants and his sling bag when it was recovered from the recycle bin, Conte said. Pictures and video showed the highly visible chalk stains
Former State Trooper Thomas Stange testified about arriving on the scene and helping to put Moffitt in his cruiser and taking him to the barracks in Shaftsbury for processing.
Stange, now an inspector with the Department of Motor Vehicles, identified cruiser video that showed a nervous Moffitt looking repeatedly over his left shoulder in the direction of where he had ditched his sling bag in the recycle barrel.
Detective Sgt. Tyson Kinney testified that when he arrived at the scene, he was instructed by his boss, Detective Lt. John-Paul Schmidt to interview a neighbor, Douglas Goble, standing on his lawn. Goble offered comments that Moffitt appeared to discard evidence in the recycle barrel across the street as he fled from police.
Kinney, a 15-year veteran with state police and four years with Wilmington Police, said he found the sling bag inside and took photographs before seizing it as evidence.
In subsequent days at the trial, the jury heard from Goble and a second local resident, Russell Silva, who reported finding two cellphones that had been discarded on a lawn along the route Moffitt fled.
Also testifying were State Police Detective Sgt. Jeffrey W. Stephenson and two members of the Vermont Forensic Laboratory, Kent-Erik Hedberg and Rebecca Mead.
Moffitt had tried to get the federal trial postponed until after his homicide trial, but has been unsuccessful. Federal authorities have a Speedy Trial Act, which normally require a trial within about 70 days of arrest. It can be extended due to motions and changes in lawyers. The state court officials have acknowledged a huge backlog due to COVID and inadequate resources to keep pace with its workload.
The homicide case began to unfold when a man initially found what appeared to be a human jawbone about five years ago, Vermont State Police said. More body parts were later found in a shallow grave and it took a year before police identified the remains.
DNA evidence helped identify the victim and the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, but the cause has never been released.
Hildenbrandt had spent considerable time in the Bennington area and had developed a relationship with Moffitt when he was serving prison time.
