BURLINGTON — A Stowe man charged in state court with eight counts of arson is now being held on a federal charge related to one of the fires he’s accused of setting.
Jeffrey Nolan, 62, made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Burlington on a charge of causing “damage and destruction damage and destruction by means of fire affecting interstate and foreign commerce.”
The federal charge relates to an allegation that Nolan set a fire Jan. 7 at Stowe Cable Systems. Company workers put out the fire before firefighters arrived.
Nolan appeared at the federal court hearing via video from a room inside the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans.
Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy granted a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher to hold Nolan in custody. Attorney David McColgin, a federal public defender representing Nolan, did not object.
McColgin told the judge he wanted time to try to get his client into an inpatient treatment facility, and would contact the Veterans Administration for assistance. Nolan told investigators he’s had problems with his memory and impulse control after suffering a brain injury in 1996.
According to police, Nolan admitted setting fires in Stowe, though he said he wasn’t sure why. He also told detectives he has a severe drinking problem and was often very drunk when he started the fires. The series of suspicious fires had been the subject of an intensive effort to find the firebug, with a $100,000 reward offered to find out who had been setting them.
The fire lit on Jan. 7 is roughly in the same area as the one last August. Security camera footage from the business showed a man, near where the fire started, bending down and using a long butane lighter to ignite something at about 6 a.m. Police believe Nolan was the man in the footage.
In total, Nolan has been charged with eight state counts of arson, dating back to March 2019, that caused more than $1.5 million in damage. Nolan pleaded not guilty to the state charges and was released over a prosecutor’s objection on conditions set by the court, including that he abide by a curfew and stay away from the places where he was accused of setting fires.
Lamoille County State’s Attorney Todd Shove said the state charges against Nolan remain pending, though they’re likely to be dismissed soon. He said the decision to pursue the case federally followed discussions with a federal prosecutor and some of the investigating officers.
Asked if the decision to take the case federal was made to ensure that Nolan would be detained, Shove responded in an email, “The feds seem to have a little more latitude in arguing that he presents a public safety risk and that should be a consideration for bail.”
However, he stated, that was only one of the considerations. The decision is also about “who would have the best resources to prosecute the case, and amidst Covid pandemic, where would the case most likely get an adjudication sooner.”