Holden Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug and Firearm Charges

Contact: Joel B. Casey
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0357

Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Nicholas
McDonald, 32, of Holden, Maine, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to possession
with intent to distribute heroin and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to Court records, on April 5, 2013, the defendant was arrested after he fled
from a vehicle that was stopped by law enforcement agents in Holden, Maine. He was found
hiding in the woods nearby. Following his arrest, he was taken to a local hospital for medical
treatment where agents discovered a package of heroin concealed inside his body. In the vehicle,
agents found a safe containing a Sig Sauer Model P226, 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, a digital
scale, and items typically used to package illegal drugs. The defendant’s DNA was found on the
safe and firearm.

In 2006, the defendant was convicted in Maine of felony failure to report to serve a
sentence of imprisonment.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge, a $2,000,000 fine on the drug charge
and a $500,000 fine on the firearm charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a
presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the
Holden, Maine Police Department, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, with the
assistance of the Brewer Police Department, the Maine State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.