New Hampshire Man Pleads Guilty To Firearm And Drug Charges

          CONCORD, N.H. – Robert Pierre, 35, of Rochester, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, announced Acting United States Attorney Donald Feith.

          On February 1, 2014, Pierre was operating a 2002 Volvo S60 in Durham, New Hampshire when he was stopped for a motor vehicle violation by a New Hampshire State Trooper.  As the Trooper approached the vehicle, Pierre opened the driver's side door.  The Trooper immediately detected the odor of unburnt marijuana.  The Trooper also smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the area of the vehicle trunk and observed a "corner bag" in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.  A pat-frisk of Pierre revealed that he was carrying $1300.00 in cash. 

          A judicially authorized search of the vehicle revealed several baggies of illegal drugs in a jacket on the front passenger seat and within the trunk.  The troopers also found three digital scales and a Taurus .22 caliber handgun.  The drugs were individually wrapped and the scales had a powder-like residue and a residue consistent with marijuana. The drugs were analyzed and tested positive for marijuana, methylone, crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin and benzylpiperazine (BZP).

          At the time of the traffic stop and his possession of the handgun, Pierre was a prohibited person under the federal firearms laws because he had been convicted of an offense punishable by more than one year in prison.

          Pierre faces a maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment.  Pierre is scheduled to be sentenced on December 22, 2015.  Pierre was detained pending sentencing.

          The case was investigated by the New Hampshire State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra M. Walsh.