Franklin Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Escape and Witness Tampering

            CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today that Brian Sanborn, 54, of Franklin, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to attempted escape and witness tampering.

             According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 14, 2018, Sanborn called his girlfriend from the Strafford County House of Corrections.  At the time, Sanborn was detained having been indicted on federal charges related to the distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Sanborn was scheduled to go to federal court the next day, May 15, 2018, to change his plea.  During the recorded phone call, Sanborn instructed his girlfriend to call his mother and to follow the transport van to and from Strafford on May 15 because “something might fall out of that . . . van and you might need to pick something up.”

            On May 15, 2018, after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine and while being transported back to the Strafford County House of Corrections, Sanborn attempted to escape the transport van by prying open the door to the cage inside the van with a six-inch piece of metal that he had smuggled into the van.  Sanborn’s actions were recorded on video cameras in the van and the deputies transporting Sanborn apprehended him before he could flee.  Sanborn called his mother the next day and said, in a recorded phone call, that he “fell out of the back of the van and will probably be facing escape charges.”

            Another inmate was in the transport van with Sanborn when he attempted to escape.  At Strafford, Sanborn sent the inmate a note that said that Sanborn knew his name and knew that the inmate had a girlfriend and child.  In the note, Sanborn also offered to pay the inmate to keep quiet about what he saw in the van.  The inmate informed Sanborn that he was not interested in Sanborn’s help and wanted nothing to do with the situation.  After this, other inmate associates of Sanborn began to harass the inmate and told him, among other things, that he was a “rat” and threatened to beat him up or kill him.

            Sanborn pleaded guilty to attempted escape and witness tampering.  He will be sentenced on June 5, 2019.

            This matter was investigated by the Strafford County Sherriff’s Office and the United States Marshals Service.  The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter.

###