In U.S. District Court for drugs, dealer now faces kidnapping, other state charges

May 27, 2026  |  By Mike Donoghue  |  Correspondent

BRATTLEBORO – A Windham County man arrested on federal drug and gun charges recently is now also facing serious state charges, including a possible life sentence, after a state prosecutor filed abduction and assault charges against him, records show.
Joshua P. Bedard, 38, is now charged in Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro with felony counts of kidnapping, which has a maximum life sentence, and aggravated domestic assault, which has a maximum 15-year sentence. He also faces a misdemeanor count of domestic assault, which carries a maximum 18-month penalty.

Bedard, who police said also has used a Waterbury home address, was due to have a detention motion heard on May 15 in U.S. District Court in Burlington on his federal charges, but his defense lawyer pulled the plug on that hearing.

Bedard had been arrested on federal charges of distribution of both powder cocaine and crack cocaine and for using a gun during a major drug trafficking business in southeastern Vermont, court records show. While his main focus was in Windham County, he operated as far north as the White River Junction region, records noted.

Instead, Judge Jennifer Barrett has ordered Bedard held without bail after Windham County State’s Attorney Steven M. Brown filed the three new charges stemming from incidents in April and this month.

Brown charged Bedard, who uses the street name “Shizaam,” with restraining a woman with the intent to inflict bodily injury or to place her in fear of bodily injury, court papers note.
The woman reported Bedard would keep four handguns with him at all times, Brattleboro Police said in a court affidavit. She said she was afraid of Bedard, referring to him as a “loose cannon.”

According to court records, Brattleboro Police said the woman reported in one incident that she got into Bedard’s car at a Burger King in Brattleboro and he grabbed her by the back of the neck, saying something like, “You are being kidnapped.” The woman claimed Bedard took her phone and that he drove his white Mazda SUV at 117 mph to Rockingham, Officer Cody Evans said in a court affidavit.
The woman said she feared for her life and was in his car against her will, police said. She also claimed that Bedard commented, “you know what happened to the other guy,” Evans wrote in the affidavit.

In a separate incident, Brattleboro Police said the woman reported Bedard became upset after the Vermont State Police had executed a search warrant at an apartment at 296 South Main St. in Brattleboro on April 14, records show. In that incident, Officer Evans’ affidait to the court details the woman’s description of a physical assault by Bedard where she said he pushed her against a wall with his hand on her throat, hitting her head against the wall, and holding her in place for one to two minutes.  

Evans said a witness confirmed the woman’s report to police, elaborating that once Bedard released his grip on the woman, he ordered her to sit in a corner facing a wall and not to look around. The victim told police she rated the pain she suffered in the incident as a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, Evans noted. 

The third charge stems from a May 4 incident at a Holiday Inn Express in Brattleboro, when the woman told police Bedard struck her in the face during an argument at the hotel. That incident left her with a bruise, she told police, describing the pain in that instance as an 8 on a 1-10 scale. 

The police affidavit details the woman’s account that Bedard drove her to Westminster and dropped her off at a friend’s house as punishment. She told police Bedard would drop her off at random places as punishment when she was in “trouble,” Evans noted.

The victim shared details of other incidents, including one where Bedard struck her with a firearm when they were in at a friend’s house in Charlestown, New Hampshire, in December. She was able to show police a photo on her phone showing red marks on her neck from another incident that she said happened in Massachusetts, police said.

Bedard's criminal record includes convictions for aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, burglary into an occupied dwelling and cocaine sale, records show. 

After his arrest last week, Bedard told investigators that his recent drug sales had increased in the past month to a daily sale of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) combined for crack and powder cocaine, a court affidavit said. Before that time, Bedard said he was selling about 18 ounces a day, records noted. He was found with more than 14 ounces of cocaine and a revolver with a live round and three spent shell casings, according to court records.

State court records show that Bedard received a 9-year prison sentence for badly beating a Lowell man suspected of helping police in 2017 in Orleans County. Bedard admitted to aggravated assault and unlawful restraint with a risk of injury. As part of a plea deal, Orleans County prosecutors dropped felony charges of kidnapping with injury and attempted first-degree murder on Nov. 12, 2017, records show.
After he got out of federal prison, he applied for a state driver’s license, listing a Waterbury home address, according to court records. Following his recent arrest, Bedard admitted he began dealing drugs in June 2025, about a month after he got out of federal prison, court papers show.
Bedard also maintained that he carried a firearm for personal protection, court records noted. He was seen on video with a gun during a recorded drug deal and the firearm matched the gun found in his car when he was arrested last week, records show.

According to a federal court affidavit, Bedard was arrested following an investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force and the FBI. The investigation initially targeted another suspected drug dealer in 2025, but Bedard became a focus in the case. The task force set up drug buys of cocaine, one each in Brattleboro and Guilford, according to court records. 

Also arrested in a car with him on a state warrant was Koree S. Hudgins, 31, of Brattleboro, police said. She was wanted on two counts of resisting arrest, two counts of unlawful trespass, and one count each of impeding police and cocaine sale, jail records show.