Epsom Man Pleads Guilty To Gun, Drug Dealing Charges

CONCORD, NH — A local man has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to firearm possession and drug dealing charges today, according to a press statement. Eric Collins, 43, of Epsom, offered the plea after being in possession of guns and drugs in Concord in February 2017. Officers in the capital city executed a search warrant of his vehicle and found two guns, more than $7,500 in cash, and methamphetamine – packaged for sale – and “various controlled substances,” according to the court.

“Drugs and guns are a potentially deadly combination,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley in a statement on Nov. 21. “I commend the law enforcement officers whose work on this case helped to improve the safety of our community.”

The case is part of ATF’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is a federally-funded program intended to reduce gun violence through law enforcement training, public education, and aggressive law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes, Farley noted. Along with the Concord Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also involved in the investigation.

Collins was arrested on Feb. 18, at Turtle Town Pond on Shawmut Street with two other people after an incident there. He was indicted on charges this summer. Collins was also previously arrested in March after the city’s third Operation Granite Hammer drug raid at Regency Hill Estates and Concord Gardens, according to reports on Patch.

Image via Concord Police.