St. Johnsbury woman is back in jail

A St. Johnsbury woman, who got a break from federal prosecutors in a case for reportedly buying firearms for a Hartford, Conn. gang member later charged in two unrelated homicide cases in Vermont, is back in jail after violating her pre-trial release conditions by testing positive for drugs, court records show. Elizabeth Pappalardo, 25, was initially charged in May with making false statements to licensed gun dealers during purchases in St. Johnsbury and Hardwick in April and also with providing the firearms to a dangerous person prohibited by law from possessing them. Former U.S. Attorney Christina E. Nolan, who is defending Pappalardo, helped negotiate a plea deal that allowed her client to plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of knowingly possessing crack cocaine on April 16, 2022.  St. Johnsbury Police arrested Pappalardo on a federal warrant after an alert officer spotted her walking on Bay Street under the Portland Street Bridge and took her into custody.