佛蒙特州Hardwick男子以可卡因换枪、候判期间藏短管霰弹枪：联邦法院判21个月
美国司法部佛蒙特区联邦检察官办公室宣布，佛蒙特州 Hardwick 居民 Hunter Patten（27岁）10月29日在 Burlington 的联邦法院被判处21个月监禁，其后须接受3年监督释放。判刑由联邦地区法官 William K. Sessions III 作出。
Patten 已于2025年11月3日认罪，罪名是身为吸毒者与受管制物质成瘾者非法持有枪支。法院记录显示，2023年10月15日，他以碱性可卡因换得一支枪；就在此前，他刚听闻 Theodore Bland 在佛蒙特州 Lowell 为毒品犯下双重凶杀案。
认罪后，Patten 于2026年1月27日获释，在社区内候判，条件包括不得持有枪支或毒品、不得违反州法或联邦法律。然而2026年8月18日，Hardwick 警方到其住所处置时，发现他腿部有一处疑似自伤的枪伤，附近一台烘干机里藏着一支短管霰弹枪，厨房与卧室还存有价值数千美元的碱性可卡因与芬太尼。此时距原定判刑只有数日，他随即因违反释放条件被拘留。
第一助理联邦检察官 Jonathan A. Ophardt 对联邦调查局（FBI）与 Hardwick 警察局的协作调查表示肯定。案件由联邦助理检察官 Dana E. Hill 与 Jason Turner 起诉。
司法部表示，该案属于其全国性的「安全社区项目」（Project Safe Neighborhoods）执法框架，该框架由各联邦检察官办公室协调联邦、州与地方执法力量，打击暴力犯罪。
Hardwick, Vermont Man Sentenced to 21 Months for Unlawful Firearm Possession After Trading Cocaine for a Gun
BURLINGTON, Vermont — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont announced that Hunter Patten, 27, of Hardwick, Vermont, was sentenced on October 29, 2026, in federal court in Burlington to 21 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III imposed the sentence.
Patten pleaded guilty on November 3, 2025, to possessing a firearm as a drug user and a person addicted to controlled substances. According to court records, on October 15, 2023, he obtained a firearm in exchange for cocaine base, shortly after hearing that Theodore Bland had committed a double homicide for drugs in Lowell, Vermont.
After his guilty plea, Patten was released from custody on January 27, 2026, to await sentencing in the community, under conditions that included not possessing firearms or drugs and not violating state or federal law. On August 18, 2026, Hardwick Police responding to his residence found him — then just days away from sentencing — with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to his leg, a short-barreled shotgun hidden in a nearby clothes dryer, and thousands of dollars' worth of cocaine base and fentanyl in both his kitchen and bedroom. He was immediately detained for violating his release conditions.
First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of the FBI and the Hardwick Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dana E. Hill and Jason Turner.
The Justice Department said the case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, its nationwide initiative coordinating federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement to combat violent crime.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Burlington 的联邦大楼、邮局与法院大楼，联邦地区法院所在地。Farragutful 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The federal building, post office and courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, home to the U.S. District Court. Photo by Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
