BENNINGTON — A judge has ordered the arrest of a man charged in a multistate scam involving hay and maple syrup after prosecutors said they believed he staged a car crash to evade being sentenced on Wednesday.
Richard Blackmer Jr., 41, a former Shaftsbury resident, pleaded guilty last September to a felony charge of false pretenses for an unfulfilled hay sale — among dozens of fraud-related charges against him since 2019.
Blackmer was scheduled to be sentenced in Bennington Superior criminal court Wednesday afternoon to a potential maximum of 10 years in prison, but he didn’t show up. His attorney, Matthew Hart, told the judge he learned from Blackmer’s wife Wednesday morning that Blackmer had been in a car crash in New York and was taken to Albany Medical Center.
Hart said Blackmer’s doctors declined to share details about his medical condition and when he could be discharged.
Prosecutors learned through their police contacts that the crash involved a single vehicle that rolled over in Rensselaer County on Wednesday morning, said Bennington County Deputy State’s Attorney Robert Plunkett.
Witnesses reported seeing Blackmer outside the wrecked car, Plunkett said, but authorities didn’t immediately know the nature of his injuries.
Additional details about the crash were scarce. But based on its timing, just hours before Blackmer’s sentencing, and the nature of the criminal charges against him, including deceptive practices, the prosecutor said he believed the crash was not an accident.
He asked Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady to issue an arrest warrant to hold Blackmer without bail until the defendant could return to court.
“It happened on the morning when he was supposed to be sentenced for a series of crimes,” Plunkett said of the crash. “I have reason to believe that it was intentional.”
Blackmer had previously been allowed to remain free from jail as long as he followed certain court-ordered conditions.
When he pleaded guilty last year, Blackmer admitted that, primarily between 2019 and 2020, he intentionally entered into fraudulent contracts to deliver products such as hay and maple syrup. Many of the people he dealt with lived outside Vermont.
Vermont State Police had said the complainants included residents of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Minnesota and California. From around 2013 until 2020, police had said Blackmer defrauded at least two dozen people in eight states in deals that also included maple syrup equipment, farm equipment and collectible model cars.
According to court records, Blackmer had offered a litany of excuses about why he couldn’t deliver the products, refund customers or complete payments on orders he’d made. The excuses reportedly included issues with his truck, his employees, the weather, the bank, the post office, child care, his grandfather’s death, his father’s health, his son’s health or his health — including one instance in which Blackmer made it appear he had open heart surgery, went into a coma and died.
At least four victims had prepared remarks for Wednesday’s hearing, including two who planned to speak via teleconference and two who had submitted them in writing, said victim advocate Tammy Loveland.
In granting the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant on Wednesday, McDonald-Cady said Blackmer poses a flight risk since he now lives out of state. He had moved from Shaftsbury to White Creek, New York, court records show.
The judge also noted she had not received any medical records to explain why Blackmer was in the hospital and couldn’t appear in court. “It just seems unusual and concerning to the court that this happens on the morning of a contested sentencing,” McDonald-Cady said.
The judge said Blackmer could surrender to authorities once he is released from the hospital.
The new date for his sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, as of Wednesday afternoon.
