Manchester Man Sentenced for Intending to Traffic Methamphetamine and Fentanyl

CONCORD – A Manchester man was sentenced in federal court for drug trafficking offenses, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

John Barber, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Samantha Elliott to 60 months in federal prison and 3 years of supervised release. The defendant was ordered to forfeit approximately $3,000. 

“The defendant possessed significant amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine that he intended to traffic into our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. “The sentence imposed by the Court not only stops the defendant from selling drugs for the next 60 months, but it also strips from him his ill-gotten drug trafficking proceeds.”

“John Barber intended to traffic significant amounts of meth and fentanyl onto New Hampshire’s streets,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “But thankfully, the FBI’s Major Offender Task Force and the New Hampshire State Police were able to stop him. Today’s sentence puts Mr. Barber officially out of business.”

On February 23, 2022, a New Hampshire State Trooper stopped a car on Interstate 93 for a traffic violation. The defendant was a passenger in the car.  After the driver gave consent to search the car, law enforcement officers found numerous plastic baggies, a digital scale and a locked zipper pouch in the vicinity of the defendant.  The pouch was later searched pursuant to a warrant and contained roughly 45 grams of methamphetamine and 130 grams of fentanyl.  The defendant had $2,000 in his pocket and over $1,000 in his wallet.  The defendant admitted that he intended to distribute the pouch of drugs to someone else.

On August 23, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant of a camper belonging to the defendant in Manchester and found approximately 75 grams of methamphetamine in a plastic bag containing other smaller baggies, in the defendant’s bedroom.  The defendant admitted the methamphetamine was his.  The method of packaging and quantity of methamphetamine is indicative of distribution.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, at least three (3) years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Manchester Police Department and the New Hampshire State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Gingrande and Matthew Hunter are prosecuting the case.  

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