Lincoln Resident Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge

Contact: Joel B. Casey
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Bruce Smith, 58, of Lincoln, Maine pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to possession of firearms by an unlawful user of bath salts.  

According to court records, between January and April 2014, the defendant possessed seven firearms at a time when he was regularly using Alpha-PVP.  Alpha-PVP is a schedule I controlled substance and is among a group of illegal, street drugs commonly referred to as bath salts.  Two of the firearms were seized on March 9, 2014 following a traffic stop and Smith’s arrest by the Lincoln Police Department.  Two more were seized on March 11, 2014 in Bradford, Maine and traced back to Smith. Smith possessed three more on April 8, 2014 when he was questioned by federal agents.

The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.  He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Lincoln Police Department.