BURLINGTON — A 41-year-old South Royalton man whose meth use and gunplay prompted complaints from neighbors has been sentenced to 19 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a drug user in possession of firearms.
Jeremy Digby was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss in federal court in Burlington. Digby was arrested at his home in the Harlow Road neighborhood in South Royalton in October 2020 where police found 43 firearms, including an assault rifle-style firearm with a barrel less than 16 inches, according to court records.
Vermont State Police and federal agents also “recovered evidence of drug use,” and Digby told officers that he had “regularly used methamphetamine,” court records said. Royalton residents had been complaining about drug use and gunshots coming from the Digby home, and a motion for detention last year said, “This is a dangerous combination and until Digby is able to address his substance abuse problem, he poses a significant risk to the public.”
Digby was initially charged with possessing an unregistered firearm with a short barrel but a superseding indictment charged him with possession of firearms by an unlawful user of a controlled substance. He pleaded guilty in June.
Reiss gave Digby credit for time served and recommended that he be held at a federal prison in Danbury, Conn., “in the lowest-security setting available to him,” so he can be in touch with his children, who are minors, “with whom he is bonded, and to also facilitate his reentry back into his community.”