Press Releases

Attorney General Charity Clark has sued Meta to hold the company accountable for its contribution to the mental health crisis that grips teens in America and Vermont. The lawsuit, which targets Instagram, alleges Meta designed Instagram to cause young people to use the platform compulsively and excessively. Meta did this to maximize the time young users spend on the platform in order to maximize the company’s advertising revenue.

Attorney General Charity Clark today announced a $75,000 settlement to resolve claims by the State of Vermont against Thomas Tremonte for civil timber trespass and unlawful mischief on State Park land. The settlement resolves a 2021 case filed by the Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) alleging that Mr. Tremonte cut 839 trees without authorization in a designated natural area in Hazen’s Notch State Park. Mr. Tremonte owns land next to the Park.

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 50 attorneys general from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia in announcing a settlement with payment processor ACI Worldwide over a 2021 testing error that led to the unauthorized withdrawal of $2.3 billion from mortgage-holders nationwide. Under the settlement, ACI will pay a total of $10 million to the states, of which Vermont will receive $20,000, and the company must take several steps to avoid any future incidents.

The Attorney General’s Office and the Grand Isle County State’s Attorney’s Office today announced the conclusions of their independent reviews of the non-fatal officer-involved shooting incident that occurred on April 20, 2023, in Morrisville, Vermont.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Grace Gamble (charged as Peter Gamble), 27, of Montpelier, Vermont, was arraigned earlier this week on five felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.

Event marks the 12^th “perambulation” since U.S. Supreme Court ended a two-decade border dispute between the two states in in 1937.

Attorney General Charity Clark announced today that she, along with 49 other attorneys general, has reached a settlement with software company Blackbaud for its deficient data security practices and response to a 2020 ransomware event that exposed the personal information of millions of consumers across the nation. Under the settlement, Blackbaud has agreed to overhaul its data security and breach notification practices and make a $49.5 million payment to states.

Following the close of a two-week collective effort, Attorney General Charity Clark, the Vermont Bar Association (VBA), the Vermont Paralegal Organization (VPO), and the Vermont Foodbank announced the positive outcome of the Vermont Legal Community Fighting Hunger Food Drive. For the past seven years, legal professionals across the state have come together to run the food drive during Hunger Action Month in September.

Attorney General Charity Clark, along with Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly, will host a free expungement clinic on Friday, October 27, 2023, with appointments available from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Expungements wipe from your record specific convictions and dismissed charges after a certain period of time has passed. Under Vermont law, many misdemeanors, 14 different felony offenses, and all dismissed charges can be expunged or sealed.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Richard E. Irish, 56, of South Royalton, Vermont, was arraigned today on two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr.

The Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement with Tempoe, LLC, a company that leases consumer products nationwide. The settlement resolves a multistate investigation which revealed that Tempoe’s marketing and sales practices often misled consumers to believe they were signing up for an installment plan or credit sale when, in reality, they were entering into a lease agreement.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Caleb Cox, 32, of Bennington, Vermont, was arraigned today on nine felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr.

In its seventh year supporting those in need and the vital work of the Vermont Foodbank, the Vermont Legal Community Fighting Hunger Food Drive will start Friday, September 8^th and run until Friday, September 22^nd. This year, the Attorney General’s Office is encouraging members of the legal community to collect diapers, in addition to food, to support Vermont families experiencing diaper need.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Joel Daugreilh, 37, of St. Albans, Vermont, pleaded guilty to one count of Simple Assault at a court appearance yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Franklin Criminal Division.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that David Razinha, 53, of Northfield, Vermont, was arraigned yesterday on seven counts of Felony Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr.

Attorney General Charity Clark is warning Vermonters that the grandparent scam is on the rise -- and scammers are utilizing new, sophisticated tactics. As typical of this scam, callers claim to be grandchildren in an emergency situation, such as in a car accident, in prison, or at the hospital, and need money to resolve the problem.

The Attorney General’s Office and the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office today announced the conclusions of their independent reviews of the non-fatal officer-involved shooting incident that occurred on August 13, 2022, in Burlington, Vermont. Both Attorney General Charity Clark and Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George have declined to prosecute Burlington Police Department Sergeant Simon Bombard for charges related to the non-fatal shooting of David Johnson.

The Attorney General’s Office today announced that Luke Lanfear, 43, of Burlington, Vermont, was charged with 11 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, which included eight felony second offense counts, and three misdemeanor counts. The charges brought against Mr.

The Attorney General’s Office today announced that Andrew Barrows, 22, of Colchester, Vermont, was arraigned on July 14, 2023, on nine felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, one felony count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance, and one misdemeanor count of Voyeurism. The charges brought against Mr.

Update: Due to flooding impacting communities across Vermont, the expungement clinic has been rescheduled for Friday, July 28, 2023 from 10:00 to 2:00PM. If you had previously scheduled an appointment, please contact the Attorney General's Office by emailing AGO.Info@vermont.gov or calling 802-828-0033.

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The State of Vermont, 64 individual plaintiffs who have sued the State, and the federal receiver for Jay Peak, Inc., et al., have reached an agreement to settle all pending and potential lawsuits against the State related to the eight Jay Peak EB-5 projects. The settlement agreement is conditioned upon entry of a bar order, which must be approved by the court overseeing the Jay Peak receivership before the settlement is finalized.   

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Michael Dubois, 35, of Proctor, Vermont, was arraigned today on seven felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr. Dubois are the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of search warrants into Mr.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Jeffrey Kittredge, Sr., 57, of Montpelier, Vermont, was sentenced yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Washington Criminal Division, to 3 to 5 years imprisonment with 18 months to serve and the rest suspended, and 5 years of probation, after pleading guilty to one felony count of Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult, and one felony count of Medicaid Fraud.

The lawsuit filed by the State for school and environmental contamination is first in the nation

Attorney General Charity Clark today announced a $2.35 million multistate settlement with Adore Me, Inc., a lingerie retailer that primarily sells its merchandise online. The settlement resolves claims that the company deceptively marketed its VIP Membership Program to consumers and then made it difficult for consumers to cancel their memberships.

Vermont to Receive $46.4 million to Fight the Opioid Crisis

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Joshua M. Jones, 34, of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Britney Spaulding, 34, of Lynchburg, Virginia, both formerly of Morrisville, Vermont, were each sentenced yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Lamoille Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to charges related to neglect of a vulnerable adult with death resulting.

Attorney General Charity Clark today announced that Vermont has joined 41 other states in reaching a nationwide settlement of $102.5 million with the maker of Suboxone, Indivior Inc. Vermont will receive about $2 million from the settlement, which resolves allegations that Indivior used illegal means to switch the Suboxone market from tablets to film while attempting to destroy the market for tablets to preserve its drug monopoly. Suboxone is a brand name for buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Steven J. Malaney Jr., 59, of Burlington, Vermont, was arraigned today on four felony counts and one misdemeanor count of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr. Malaney are the result of a criminal investigation conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), which included personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Burlington Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Robert Bivens, 54, and Andrew Sollace, 41, both of Montpelier, Vermont, were arraigned yesterday on multiple counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. Mr. Bivens was arraigned on two felony counts and three misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. Mr. Sollace was arraigned on four felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material.

Attorney General Charity Clark today sued Michael D. Lansky, LLC, which does business under the name Avid Telecom, for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that, in separate incidents, two Vermont men, Travis Papineau, 39, of Northfield, and Patrick Knauss, 34, of Essex—were arraigned in Vermont Superior Court earlier this week for possession of child sexual abuse material.

Vermonters who were misled by TurboTax into paying for free tax services will begin receiving restitution checks in the mail this week as the result of a multistate settlement. The settlement, announced in 2022, applies to certain consumers who paid TurboTax’s owner Intuit to file their federal tax returns for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018 when they were eligible to file for free through the IRS Free File Program.

Settlement Prevents Visibly From Misrepresenting Safety or Effectiveness of Vision Tests

The Attorney General’s Office announced that it joined a multistate settlement last month with Visibly Inc, resolving an investigation into deceptive business practices at the online telehealth company. Visibly, formerly known as Opternative Inc., markets and sells an online vision test, among other products.

Attorney General Charity Clark issued the following statement in response to the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs’ investigative report on the Franklin County State’s Attorney, released yesterday:

“I am deeply troubled by the findings that State’s Attorney Lavoie created a toxic work environment. His behavior and comments in a workplace – as described in the report issued yesterday and as he has admitted through press reports – are unacceptable.

Vermont joins two amicus briefs in support of access to mifepristone and preventative reproductive health care under Title X

Attorney General Charity Clark continued her efforts to protect medication abortions and reproductive health care yesterday by joining a pair of multi-state actions.

U.S. Attorney, Vermont Attorney General & Rutland Area NAACP to Co-Host Hate-Free Vermont Forum in Randolph

Montpelier’s Main Street Middle School Wins Visit from AG Clark

Tonight, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding the status of the abortion drug mifepristone. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a stay during the pendency of the appeal in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. In response, Attorney General Charity Clark issued the following statement:

“Vermonters, tonight’s ruling means there is no change in your ability to receive abortion care in Vermont, including accessing medication abortions using mifepristone.

4/19/23 Update: The U.S. Supreme Court extended the stay until Friday, April 21, 2023. Until the Court provides more clarity by then, Vermonters’ access to mifepristone remains unchanged and health care providers may continue treating their patients with mifepristone.

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The Attorney General’s Office today announced Louis Fortier, 42, was sentenced on one count of Murder in the Second Degree in Vermont Superior Court, Chittenden Criminal Division. Mr. Fortier previously pled no contest in the fatal stabbing of Richard Medina on March 29, 2017, in downtown Burlington, Vermont.

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a multistate coalition challenging the decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that would leave in place restrictions on access to mifepristone imposed by a Texas trial court and restrict access to medication abortion nationwide.

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a multistate coalition to challenge the decision issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that could restrict medication abortion access nationwide. The amicus brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, urges the court to stay pending appeal of the district court’s ruling, which if allowed to take effect would halt the over two-decades old approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the medication abortion drug mifepristone.

CONTACT:   Lauren Jandl, Chief of Staff, 802-828-3171

Announces top 10 consumer complaints of 2022 & “Stopping Scams Together” initiative

The United States Attorney’s Office, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, and the Rutland Area NAACP will be co-hosting a Hate-Free Vermont Forum in St. Albans on March 13, 2023 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. This forum will be the third held in an ongoing series; last year, Hate-Free Vermont Forums took place in Rutland and Bennington.

CONTACT: Lauren Jandl, Chief of Staff, 802-828-3171                                                             

Fake package scam leads the list; Social Security phishing scam falls from list

Report includes review of 2021 homicides and recommendations to Legislature

Vermonters who need to remove firearms from their homes now have access to a renewed program that provides safe storage at sites statewide, the Vermont State Police and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office announced today.

Under the Firearms Storage Program, eight federally licensed firearms dealers in the state have signed up to accept firearms for temporary storage due to a protection order or for other safekeeping reasons.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Joshua Douglas, 34, of Hartland, Vermont, was arraigned yesterday on six felony and four misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr.