A Vermont judge has rejected a plea deal calling for a 30-month jail sentence for a Pownal man accused of pointing a loaded firearm at a trooper before the trooper shot him several times nearly three years ago.
The plea agreement for 50-year-old Bernard Rougeau had been on hold, in part, because the trooper objected to the sentence.
Judge Cortland Corsones, during a hearing Wednesday in Bennington County Superior criminal court, said he would not accept the plea deal.
“The court has considered all of the relevant factors,” the judge said. “The court cannot accept the plea agreement because it does adequately take into consideration the seriousness of the defendant’s actions.”
Corsones issued his decision after both Deputy State’s Attorney Robert Plunkett, the prosecutor, and Kate Lamson, Rougeau’s attorney, told the judge they supported the plea deal, with Plunkett calling it a “reasonable resolution.”
Lamson told the judge that, in agreeing to the plea deal, her client was giving up a possible robust defense in the case against him.
With the plea deal rejected, Lamson said her client would withdraw his guilty plea and invoke his right to a speedy trial.
And now, if convicted, Rougeau could face life in prison.
The judge, in rejecting the agreement, cited Rougeau’s lack of remorse, both at the hearing Wednesday and in a presentence investigation conducted by the state Department of Corrections. That report, the judge said, recommended that Rougeau receive the maximum sentence for the offense of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer: six years in prison.
The confidential report also included a victim impact statement and information about whether Rougeau was likely to reoffend, if released.
Corsones said he would be willing to accept a 36-month to six-year sentence for Rougeau, which would ensure the maximum amount of supervision.
“His rehabilitation should take place under the strictest supervision the court can provide,” the judge said.
Rougeau had pleaded guilty in June to aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer — pointing a loaded firearm and threatening Vermont State Trooper Thomas Sandberg. Rougeau had originally faced a charge of attempted second-degree murder in the incident that occurred Oct. 18, 2018. He had also been charged with reckless endangerment and interference with emergency services, charges that would have been dropped under the plea agreement.
Rougeau had been in custody since his arrest in 2018. With credit for time served, the plea deal would have made him immediately eligible for release.
Police said they were called to Rougeau’s home on the night of Oct. 18, 2018, after receiving emergency calls reporting that Rougeau was drunk and suicidal.
Rougeau refused orders to drop his 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun. When he raised it toward a trooper outside his Pownal home, Sandberg shot him.
Rougeau was taken to the Albany Medical Center in New York for treatment. He was later released and taken into police custody.
In separate reviews, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office found that Sandberg’s use of force was justified.
In addition to the case in state court, Rougeau was later charged in federal court in Vermont with being a felon in possession of a firearm. In the federal case, he was sentenced to 12 months and a day in jail, followed by three years of supervised release.
Sandberg, the trooper, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.
The judge didn’t name the trooper specifically during the hearing Wednesday, but did talk about the significant impact the case has had on “at least one of his victims.” It was revealed at an earlier hearing that Sandberg had objected to the plea agreement.
Sandberg is no longer a trooper with the Vermont State Police and contact information for him could not immediately be found.