BURLINGTON — A Hyde Park man accused of helping conceal the fatal shooting of two Massachusetts men in northern Vermont where their alleged killer faces a possible death sentence has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Dilan Jiron, 29, entered guilty pleas Monday to two federal charges: conspiracy to possess a firearm in a drug trafficking crime and helping Theodore Bland, 30, formerly of Stowe, to cover up the fatal shootings.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Jiron faces up to 23 years in prison on the two charges.
A sentencing date has been set for Oct. 20.
In U.S. District Court in Burlington on Monday, Jiron told Judge William K. Sessions III that he understood that by pleading guilty to the two charges he was giving up his right to a trial.
Bland and Jiron have both been charged in connection with the deaths of Jahim Solomon, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Eric White, of Chicopee, Massachusetts.
On Oct. 25, 2023, Vermont State Police officers found the bodies of Solomon and White, both 21, in a wooded area of Eden, about a mile apart from each other, and reported that the men had been fatally shot.
The families of two Massachusetts men had notified authorities days earlier the two men had disappeared while in Vermont, according to police.
Court records stated that the killings occurred on Oct. 12, 2023, when Bland allegedly shot Solomon and White in Vermont in a drug-dealing dispute.
Bland “induced” others to help him move the bodies of White and Solomon to the wooded area in Eden, where they were later found by police, according to the court filings.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont announced in February that it was bringing charges against Bland that carry the possibility of the death penalty. Those charges included one for using and carrying “a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime causing the deaths of Jahim Solomon and Eric White in circumstances that constitute murder under federal law.”
However, the office has not filed a motion confirming it will seek the death penalty for Bland, should he be convicted.
Jiron’s plea agreement filed last week stated he admitted to assisting “Theodore Bland in transporting the body of Jahim Solomon to a wooded area and attempted to hide it from detection of investigating authorities.”
The plea agreement stated that, Jiron provided false information to authorities investigating the double homicide.
Bland and Jiron remain incarcerated without bail as the cases against them proceed.
