June 9, 2008

ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS ON FEDERAL FIREARMS OFFENSE

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on
June 9, 2008, Paul Bushee, 22, of East Wallingford was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions, III, for possession of firearms as a convicted felon and for possession of stolen firearms. Bushee was sentenced as an Armed Career Criminal because he has at least three previous violent felony convictions. According to Court documents, Bushee has convictions for six separate burglaries in Vermont. Bushee was also ordered to pay restitution of $4,100 and $200 in special assessments. Upon completion of his prison sentence, Bushee will be on federal supervised release for three years.

According to Court records, on September 9, 2006, Bushee and co-defendants Andrew Webb and Jaime Mead, stole eleven firearms from a Wallingford residence, including three handguns. Bushee broke into the house and handed the firearms through a broken window to Webb. Webb then brought the firearms to Mead, who was waiting in a truck in the driveway. The residence was discovered to be on fire shortly after the burglary and the State police determined that the cause of the fire was arson. According to Court documents, damage to the home exceeded $360,000. Both Webb and Mead are currently charged in Vermont District Court with arson of the residence.

Court records also show that in late September 2006, Bushee, Webb, and Mead gave co-defendant and convicted felon Erik Baker a ride to his residence. After they arrived at Baker's house, Webb gave Baker two firearms, one of which had been stolen from the Wallingford home a few weeks earlier. Baker later sold these two guns to a third party. Only eight of the eleven stolen firearms have been recovered by the police. Two handguns and a .22 caliber rifle have not been recovered.

Co-defendants Mead and Baker are scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, 2008 in Burlington. Webb's sentencing date has not been scheduled.

U.S. Attorney Thomas D. Anderson noted that this matter was investigated and prosecuted as part of the U.S. Attorney and ATF's Project Safe Vermont and the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods initiatives. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America, marshaling federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who violate federal gun laws. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Safe Vermont, please visit: www.psn.gov and www.usdoj.gov/usao/vt.

Bushee was represented by Karen Shingler, Esq. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth C. Woodcock prosecuted the case for the United States.