BURLINGTON, Vt. – A 28-year-old Vermont man was arrested by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this week after his girlfriend reportedly shot herself while in a vehicle with him.
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont says Cody Ahonen, 28, of Mt. Holly, is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms due to a previous conviction for domestic violence.
Police say the gun used by Brittany Bouthiette of Mt. Holly belonged to Ahonen and that he possessed the gun before her death. After Bouthiette was shot, Ahonen attempted to throw the gun into the woods. Police say they located a Glock pistol in a roadside ditch.
Beneath the vehicle, police located a quantity of suspected cocaine base. Inside the vehicle, troopers found an additional pistol, a rifle, a quantity of powder cocaine, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a digital scale with white residue and approximately $10,000 in U.S. currency.
The attorney’s office says if convicted on the firearms charge, Ahonen faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Ahonen made his initial court appearance today in Burlington. He was ordered detained pending trial.