The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on April 14, 2022, Aron Lee Ethridge, 41, of Henderson, Nevada was indicted on charges of participating in a conspiracy resulting in the kidnapping of Gregory Davis, a resident of Danville, Vermont, on January 6, 2018. Ethridge had his initial appearance on this charge in the District of Vermont on April 20, 2022, and he has a detention hearing scheduled for April 25, 2022.
The indictment identifies Ethridge’s co-conspirator as Jerry Banks, who was indicted on April 14, 2022, in the District of Vermont on kidnapping charges. The indictment charging Ethridge explains how Banks communicated with Ethridge about the kidnapping and murder of Davis.
The charges against Ethridge carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Any actual sentence will be determined with reference to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The indictment charging Ethridge contains accusations only, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Paul Van de Graaf and Jonathan Ophardt. Mark A. Kaplan, Esq. represents Ethridge.
U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Vermont State Police in their collaborative investigation of Ethridge.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. https://www.justice.gov/psn