Updated 10:25 p.m.
Authorities seized a loaded handgun, five ounces of marijuana and more than $11,000 in cash during a Tuesday raid on a Church Street business, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan alleged in a two-count criminal complaint that Good Times Gallery owner Derek Spilman possessed a firearm while distributing marijuana. In court papers, authorities said that Spilman had sold pot to minors, including a young woman who allegedly became ill after consuming a bag of edible gummies.
Spilman was released on conditions Wednesday after an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Speaking to the press after the hearing, Nolan said the presence of firearms in the store was “a very significant factor” in the feds’ decision to take action, as was the store’s location on a prominent pedestrian thoroughfare.
Nolan noted that marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law. And though she acknowledged that Vermont legalized the personal possession and cultivation of pot last summer, she said, “This conduct is not even close to legal under state law.”
Spilman did not speak to reporters as he exited the courthouse. David McColgin, a federal public defender who represented Spilman in court, declined to comment on Wednesday evening.
As Seven Days reported Tuesday, authorities knew about Spilman’s alleged conduct for months before taking action. According to court papers, the Burlington Police Department received at least three tips in September and October that Good Times was dealing pot to minors. When an officer approached Spilman in October, he said he only sold legal CBD products — and only to those over 21.
Acting on a tip, a state Division of Liquor Control officer entered the shop under cover in December and witnessed Spilman selling what appeared to be marijuana, the court papers said. The officer seized more than two pounds of “green leafy bud material” and observed a loaded Hi-Point .380-caliber handgun behind the counter.
Even after that bust, Spilman allegedly continued dealing. Last Friday, an undercover Burlington officer posed as a customer and bought marijuana buds and edibles from Spilman, court papers say.
Nolan said she learned of the investigation Monday and decided to act quickly because, in her view, Spilman posed a risk to the public.
During Tuesday’s bust, officers found a second gun, a Ruger 9mm, which was also loaded. In addition to the marijuana, they seized a bottle of suspected amphetamines.
Nolan said the maximum penalties Spilman faces are five years in prison for the drug charge and 10 years for the gun charge.
Nolan’s office initially sought to detain Spilman until trial, citing “concerns regarding the defendant’s mental health.” Prosecutors subsequently withdrew the motion. Spilman is due in court again on February 20.
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Amazing that a guy selling pot to minors out of a church st store would turn out to be a dirtbag
Wow we caught the el chapo of Vermont what a joke. Period…
I wish there was a place that adults could go and safely purchase high quality, local, standard certified cannabis. A place that would proliferate positive experiences within the cannabis industry. A place that would gladly educate and inform customers on the risks and benefits of the products that they will consume. The cannabis industry can be done right in Vermont. We could produce great Vermont grown products. We could employ numerous Vermonters in an industry that they love. Growing cannabis is a awesome natural craft and the rewards are great. Let’s do this right in Vermont, so we don’t have to hear these negative stories that drag down a potentially joyful industry. Let’s uphold a standard that is better than anywhere else in the world. This positive outlook alone; would diminish a large portion of the negative stigma associated with cannabis. We need the right people to be at the forefront of this industry shift. Let us know when we can start?
Why is the firearm aspect part of the story? I’m going to guess sensationalism since zero follow effort is used to say why the firearm possession is illegal.
“During Tuesdays bust, officers found a second gun, a Ruger 9mm, which was also loaded”
A handgun…………and it’s LOADED! Yup. No point is having a handgun if it isn’t loaded.
He apparently wasn’t too worried about getting busted. What was his big crime? Oh yeah, premature commercialization. Neither he nor any of us should be stupidly sitting around waiting for Phil Scott’s mythical pie-in-the-sky saliva test. Time to begin a French-like flannel-vest movement. From Mayor Weinberger’s toxic matrix to incrementalist Scott, we’re all ripe for popular democracy and non-violent civil disobedience to break out. Bourgeois representative democracy has failed us
Possessed a gun? Well now I’m convinced!
Not sure what the big crime was Albert? Selling to kids, maybe? That’s not going to be legal at all.
Ah, yes. This isn’t about somebody illegally selling psychoactive drugs to minors! No, it’s about the bourgeoisie controlling the means of production! Workers (and potheads) of the world unite! Freedom to toke! Vive la Revolution! Take to the streets!
Or, just go back to your room and have another hit.
I don’t think he should have been selling to underage kids. Having a loaded gun, is not a crime. Having $11,000 in cash is not a crime, especially for a business. His crime, I believe is having so much pot in one location and selling to minors. And I don’t know about the amphetamine bottle. None of us do. Maybe it was his? I don’t know. But, definitely sensationalism here.
Any MAGA Hats found too as that would assure the jury will crucify him?
U.S. Attorney Nolan comes out of her bunker to take down a local pot operation and the public is supposed to feel safe? Meanwhile, Ms. Nolan has had direct evidence that hundreds of psychiatric patients were robbed at the Brattleboro Retreat as patients were denied refunds of credit balances spanning a decade but remains silent. Private payers lost a small fortune also (millions) but the state and federal governments have tried to pass the Retreat fraud off as just a Medicaid fraud. Nope, the Retreat double billed and embezzled from virtually everyone the hospital did business with as the reversal transaction reports in law enforcement’s possession confirm, the Retreat was pocketing overpayments’ for a decade using a devious manipulation of their accounting system. Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan is covering up wholesale fraud as he has never explained away the vast evidence I gave both the state and federal governments including handwritten admissions on many remittance documents where Retreat staff were admitting receipt of amounts they were not entitled to. Ms. Nolan came into office falsely claiming she would prosecute “crippling” frauds. So far, she hasn’t prosecuted any crippling frauds, but has worked hard to cover up frauds by declining to prosecute some of Vermont’s more prominent ones including at Jay Peak and The Brattleboro Retreat.
Making such a fuss that “there was a gun present!” is ridiculous enough but the hype about how “it was loaded” is really infantile. Like making a fuss that someone found a hammer and there was a box of nails nearby!!! OMG!!!
Not that I’m surprised by either the hype or the police state persecution.
This is the man guy behind the background info to seven days reporter.. As quoted in numerous local news articles, Stephen felt as though he was loosing business to the neighbor shop!!! This man was arrested with more marijuana and was a real threat to society!!! Driving so drunk that he had to go to DETOX!!! A Stowe man was charged with DUI and felony drug possession after a traffic stop on Route 100 Saturday. Vermont State Police in Middlesex said Stephen A. Sclafani, 30, of Taber Hill Road was stopped for speeding and erratic driving in Stowe Village. During the stop, police determined Sclafani was under the influence of alcohol and discovered approximately one-quarter pound of marijuana in a search of his vehicle. Sclafani was transported to the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington for detoxification. He was cited to appear in Vermont District Court in Hyde Park on Nov. 4 to answer charges of DUI and felony possession of marijuana. Look it up. Times Argus newspaper! Something fishy about so called informant!
JimVT, were you expecting the informant to be a clean cut accountant who walked into the police station to admit to an illegal purchase? Or maybe a local attorney? Doctor? Someone else in a highly regulated profession?
If the informant’s information can be corroborated, why do you care about his struggles with the law?
The informant’s arrest and the information he provided is public knowledge as is the bust on this shop: so what’s the cover up?
“Having a loaded gun, is not a crime.”
It is if you’re in possession of drugs. Anyone who values their rights should probably read up on them.
Soooooo…What happened to the .380 observed behind the counter by DLC?
“I wish there was a place that adults could go and safely purchase high quality, local, standard certified cannabis. “
Hahaha! You’re messing with one of the favorite revenue streams of the Nobles! They aren’t relinquishing the oh so profitable control over the violation side of it till they have an iron fist over the micromanagement of the distribution end of it.
Me personally… I don’t need my carrots or my lettuce “standardized & certified” by the nobles, nor do I need that for any other plant. Put seeds in dirt, water, expose to sunshine and stop screwing with nature.
So if he had a licensed armed guard on site would that be illegal. So now if it is legal to possess marijuana what is the problem with having a gun.
This guy is no martyr. He was blatantly selling something illegal out in the open. Whether or not you agree that it should be legal or illegal isn’t important. He wasn’t a victim of his socioeconomic situation, he wasn’t working within a gray area of the current legislation, he wasn’t a victim at all. He was knowingly doing something clearly illegal and, once caught, childishly lashed out. That is why the gun is important to the story. This guy was hot headed and found with drugs, cash, and guns. That’s a combination where people end up getting hurt.
Freedomtothink, are you relating the Vermont legislature to Nietzsche’s slave morality? Stretch.