[B]URLINGTON – The man who allegedly shot a bystander outside of Nectar’s nightclub last year entered into a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday.
Rashad Nashid, 37, appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington to face two charges for illegal firearm possession as a felon. He changed his plea and entered a guilty plea for both charges.
The first count stems from the shooting outside Nectar’s on Feb. 26, 2018. The second count is connected to illegal possession of a firearm the day before the incident. Nashid was filmed while firing a gun at a local firing range, according to court filings.
Nashid was not allowed to have a gun due to prior convictions in New Jersey.
Nashid had pulled the firearm on Dennis Martin, a man he had been arguing with inside the nightclub, according to a police affidavit. Martin’s brother, Carl, later confronted Nashid, punching him and pointing his gun.
Nashid fired two shots in response at approximately 2:11 a.m., according to the affidavit.
One bullet hit Chelsi Parker, 26, of Essex Junction, who was in a crowd of 15 people, while the other entered a window of an apartment. Parker was shot in the lung and was hospitalized at the University of Vermont Medical Center for three weeks.
Police say Nashid gave the gun to a Nectar’s bouncer after the original altercation with the Martin brothers. The bouncer returned the gun as Nashid prepared to leave the bar, and the shooting occurred later that night.
Nectar’s agreed to a two-day suspension of its liquor license and $750 fine in June. Liquor control authorities argued staff should have called police instead of holding and then returning the gun.
Police say they stopped Nashid and arrested him as he was walking north on South Winooski Avenue near Bank Street following the incident.
The Burlington man also has been facing state-level charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
As part of the plea agreement, the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office has agreed to dismiss its pending charges if the federal court
agrees to sentence Nashid to no less than 11 years.
Nashid motioned on July 2 to suppress his post-arrest statements made to officers as evidence, arguing that police violated his Miranda rights in obtaining information. He asked the judge to sever the counts, rather than trying them together.
In his decision denying the requests, Judge William K. Sessions III wrote that evidence presented demonstrated that Nashid, who was intoxicated, was not too inebriated to waive his rights.
“An audio recording of Nashid’s interaction with officers Beliveau and Warren shows that Nashid had no difficulty understanding the officers’ questions appropriately and did not have problems expressing himself,” Sessions wrote. “Nothing suggests he was without his faculties and could not understand what was happening.”
Under the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, Nashid faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each count, so he could face up to 20 years.
But the terms also include an agreement that prosecutors and the defense can only argue for imprisonment within the range of 11-15 years.
Nashid’s sentencing is scheduled at federal court in Burlington on Dec. 2.
