By STEVEN JUPITER
When Isaiah Webb appeared on the list of official candidates for Brandon Selectboard a few weeks ago, this paper was made aware that he had pending criminal charges in both Addison and Rutland Counties. The charges in Addison County stem from an incident in Lincoln in December of 2023. In that case, he was initially arrested for aggravated disorderly conduct, DUI #2—drugs refusal, and grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle. The details and status of that case were not made available to us when we contacted the Criminal Courthouse in Middlebury two weeks ago.
The charges in Rutland County stem from incidents in March of 2024 in Brandon in which Mr. Webb allegedly sent threatening messages by phone and email to another Brandon resident. In several email messages that the victim provided to the Brandon Police—messages from the Gmail account that Mr. Webb provided to the Town of Brandon when he submitted his name as a candidate—Mr. Webb seemed to threaten various people with violence and even death. The Reporter obtained a copy of the police affidavit that contained these emails allegedly from Mr. Webb. Mr. Webb was charged with two misdemeanors: criminal threatening and disturbing the peace by phone.
The Reporter spoke with Mr. Webb in person after the Brandon Selectboard meeting on Monday, February 10 to inform him that the paper was aware of the charges and planned to include them in the coverage of the Candidate Forum scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13. Mr. Webb declined an offer to provide a statement but said that the cases involved people who murdered others for insurance money and that he had feared for his own life. He also said that the charges were going to be dismissed on the following day, Tuesday, February 11, when his lawyers had a status conference with prosecutors in Rutland.
On Tuesday, however, Mr. Webb pleaded guilty to the charge of disturbing the peace by phone, incurring a fine of $250. The charge of criminal threatening was dropped with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be refiled by prosecutors.
The status of the case in Addison County is still unknown, as the Criminal Court in Middlebury has categorized it as “confidential.”
The Reporter emailed Mr. Webb on Friday to inform him that the charges would appear in the paper this week and to reiterate the offer to publish a written statement from him.
Mr. Webb is seeking election to a three-year seat being vacated by Tim Guiles.
