The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Malcolm Roy, 52, a Canadian citizen who until recently lived in Beecher Falls, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 12 months plus one day of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge that he assaulted a federal officer with a firearm. Chief U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered that Roy serve a two-year term of supervised release following completion of his prison term. Following sentencing, Roy was taken into custody by United States Marshals.

According to court papers, Roy was arrested by the Vermont State Police in the early morning hours of March 15, 2007 after an armed confrontation with troopers and Border Patrol agents. In the evening of March 14, the State Police received telephone calls from Roy's estranged wife and from a friend, who both reported that Roy was despondent and had threatened to commit suicide.

Troopers and Border Patrol agents responded to Roy's residence in Beecher Falls. The officers deployed some 30 yards from the house. When the officers attempted to communicate with Roy, he became agitated and shouted obscenities from an upstairs window. After a Border Patrol agent illuminated Roy with a flashlight, he fired one shot in the direction of the agent (which did not hit anyone) and warned he would shoot the next person he saw. Roy also reported that he had doused the house with gasoline and would set the structure on fire if anyone approached too closely.

After reinforcements were called in, officers retreated a greater distance from Roy's house. About one and one-half hours into the standoff, Roy fired a second shot, which also hit no one.

The confrontation ended several hours later when the police fired tear gas into the house and physically subdued Roy.

This case was investigated by the Vermont State Police and the Burlington office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Roy is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Elizabeth Mann. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.