Vermont man sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping woman and son outside of a mall

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping a woman and her 4-year-old son by forcing them into her car outside a New Hampshire mall and bringing them to Vermont while he was searching for his estranged wife. Forty-six-year-old Everett Simpson was convicted by a jury in federal court last year on kidnapping and car theft charges. He had acted as his own attorney during the trial and at his sentencing Monday. An email seeking comment from his stand-by public defender was sent Tuesday. Simpson had denied kidnapping the woman and her son.