A Pownal man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison and five years on probation for threatening a state trooper with a shotgun in 2018.
Bernard Rougeau, 51, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer under a new plea deal with the state. Bennington Superior Court Judge Cortland Corsones accepted the deal, which specified a longer prison term and an added probationary period compared with Rougeau’s original plea agreement.
Rougeau has been in jail since Nov. 15, 2018. He is expected to be placed on probation soon, after reaching the three-year detention mark.
Shortly before he was sentenced Tuesday morning, Rougeau admitted he threatened a trooper with a loaded firearm the evening of Oct. 18, 2018. He apologized for his actions — remorse that the court had noted was missing in his previous presentencing statements.
“I’m very regretful and sorry for all the trouble and pain I caused to everyone involved that night three years ago,” Rougeau said via video link from the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.
That night, Rougeau appeared to be a man “intent on destroying himself and didn’t care what he destroyed in the process,” Deputy State’s Attorney Robert Plunkett told the court.
Lead defense attorney Kate Lamson said Rougeau had been “highly intoxicated.”
3 years ago
According to Vermont State Police, the armed confrontation stemmed from a 911 call that Rougeau’s sister made that evening, saying Rougeau was acting suicidal.
Rougeau reportedly went into the woods behind his home before police arrived and later emerged carrying a double-barrelled shotgun.
Rougeau began to walk toward Trooper Thomas Sandberg, carrying the shotgun, according to a state police affidavit. It said Rougeau initially pointed the gun toward the ground, but as police ordered him to drop the weapon and show his hands, he raised the gun and pointed it at Sandberg.
Sandberg then fired two rounds of buckshot at him, injuring him in the abdomen, according to the affidavit. Because of the severity of his injuries, Rougeau was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in New York. He was arrested the following month once he was discharged from the hospital.
“I am also very grateful, as is my family,” Rougeau said Tuesday morning, “to all who were there and rendered lifesaving aid in my time of need.”
Sandberg did not appear at the hearing, but the prosecutor said he and another trooper wanted Rougeau to get the maximum prison sentence of six years for the offense. Sandberg had objected to Rougeau’s original plea deal that called for two and a half years in prison.
Court sentencing Tuesday
Corsones sentenced Rougeau to three to six years in prison, with half of the time suspended.
The conditions of his five-year probation include not drinking alcohol, submitting to electronic monitoring, undergoing alcohol and mental health treatment if ordered, and not possessing any firearms.
The 2018 standoff also resulted in a federal conviction for Rougeau. In 2019, the Vermont District Court sentenced him to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm despite having a felony conviction.
An investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that Rougeau could not legally possess firearms because of his criminal history: Bennington County convictions for arson in 1993 and a third offense of driving while intoxicated in 2000.
The first half of his state probationary period will overlap with his ongoing supervision under the federal conviction. This double supervision will put a lot of pressure on him to succeed, Lamson said.
The court would also retain more control over him, Plunkett said. Should Rougeau violate the terms of his probation, the court could hold him without bail until the violations have been addressed.
As part of Rougeau’s plea agreement, the court dismissed three other charges in the case: second-degree attempted murder, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and interfering with access to emergency services.
He had been scheduled for a three-day jury trial starting Nov. 30. Until Tuesday, he was the Bennington County defendant detained the longest while awaiting trial.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Pownal man gets 3 years in prison for threatening trooper with shotgun.