Updated at 5:17 p.m.
BURLINGTON — Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of drunken driving and received a six-month deferred sentence, allowing the conviction to be cleared from her record provided she does not commit any violations during that period.
The misdemeanor charge against Vekos, 56, of Middlebury, stemmed from an incident nearly two years ago where she was accused by troopers of showing up to a suspicious death scene in Bridport impaired.
Vermont Superior Court Judge John Pacht agreed during Tuesday’s hearing in Chittenden County Superior criminal court to allow Vekos to plead no contest and allowed the deferment of her sentence over the objection of Vermont Assistant Attorney General Rosemary Kennedy, who prosecuted the case.
Vekos declined an opportunity Tuesday offered by the judge to address the resolution of the case. She did appear to wipe away tears as she entered the no contest plea.
“I know this has been a long two years for you,” Pacht said to Vekos as the hearing came to a close, adding, “I wish you the best moving forward.”
During the six months of the deferred sentence, Vekos will be on probation. The terms of that probation include a condition that Vekos “not drink alcoholic beverages to the extent they interfere with the welfare of herself or any other person or her employment.”
The judge said no one had observed Vekos driving, much less any erratic operation on the night leading to the charges against her. Also, Pacht said, his review of the police videos from the scene that night did not reveal any apparent signs of slurred speech from Vekos or impairment while she was walking.
“Ms. Vekos has always said she had one gin and tonic,” Pacht said.
The charge of driving under the influence carries a possible maximum penalty of up to two years in prison and a $750 fine.
The hearing Tuesday took place as Vekos, a Democrat, faced calls to resign last week from the heads of the Vermont Democratic and Progressive parties as well as Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
Those calls followed a VTDigger story this month detailing ethics complaints brought against Vekos from crime victims about how they were treated by her and concerns about how their cases were resolved. She has challenged those allegations against her and has said she had no plans to step down from her elected office.
According to court records, Vekos was called to meet with state police investigators on the night of Jan. 25, 2024, at a homicide scene in Bridport. Troopers later prevented Vekos from driving away from the scene after a couple of them allegedly detected alcohol on her breath, charging documents stated.
At the scene that night, a trooper asked Vekos how much she had to drink, and she reportedly replied she had one gin and tonic with a burger for dinner about an hour earlier, according to charging documents.
Vekos was eventually taken to the state police barracks in New Haven for processing for drunken driving.
Before she was taken to the barracks, the charging documents stated, she refused to do field sobriety tests, telling a trooper, “Are you serious Ryan, can’t you just have a friend come and get me,” according to the documents.
Vekos refused to take a breath test at the barracks and was subsequently charged with drunken driving.
Kennedy, the prosecutor, wrote in a sentencing document filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing that she wanted Vekos to plead guilty to the drunken driving charge and be placed on probation along with a $300 fine.
Kennedy argued in court that she does not believe that Vekos has “owned up” to the incident and urged the judge to not go forward with a deferred sentence for Vekos.
“Our office does feel like she is getting some special treatment,” Kennedy said to Pacht.
Also, according to Kennedy, if Vekos truly did consume only one alcoholic drink that night, she should not have been so concerned about taking a breath test at the barracks.
David Sleigh, Vekos’ attorney, told the judge that his client was only exercising her rights and that her integrity and honesty should not be questioned as a result.
Also, according to Sleigh, since Vekos was charged she has faced other punishment. He said Vekos did not contest the civil penalty of a suspension of her driver’s license for six months that stemmed from her refusal to take a breath test.
Sleigh noted that people facing a similar first-time drunken driving charge in Addison and Chittenden counties have those cases referred to a diversion program allowing them to avoid criminal convictions.
Sleigh said his client has faced a great deal of public scrutiny, including a recent “hit piece” in the local press, an apparent reference to the article earlier this month in VTDigger that prompted calls from some political leaders for Vekos to resign.
Pacht, the judge, deferred Vekos’s sentence for six months in connection with her no contest plea, rather than the original defense proposal of a three month deferral.
“I understand it’s objectionable to the state,” Pacht said to Kennedy, adding that he also knew that had the case gone to trial there was no guarantee of a conviction. “It’s certainly a trial that could go either way.”
“The state is clearly correct, if that’s the case and she had taken the test perhaps we would never have been here,” the judge said of Vekos. “I’m not going to try and determine the basis for why she didn’t do that.”
