ORWELL — Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Hinton of Orwell has been charged with an armed robbery of the Maplefields convenience store in Fair Haven more than a year ago, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for Vermont reported last week. The robbery occurred on the early morning of Sept. 30, 2015.
The federal grand jury, sitting in Rutland, returned a four-count superseding indictment against Hinton. He was previously charged with felon-in-possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, each of which carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Hinton pled not guilty to those charges. He is currently being detained by the Vermont Department of Corrections on separate unrelated state charges.
Around the same time as the Fair Haven burglary, Hinton was cited by state police for his alleged involvement with a series of break-ins at homes in Shoreham and Orwell, and for escape from a furlough.
The two new federal charges are a Hobbs Act federal robbery charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of seven years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. He is scheduled to be arraigned on these new charges on Nov. 29 in U.S. District Court in Burlington.
The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Fair Haven Police Department; and the Vermont State Police.
The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Perella and Mr. Hinton is represented by David McColgin of the Federal Public Defenders Office.