CONCORD – Eddy Balbuena-Gomez, age 32, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to a one-count Superseding Indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, namely, fentanyl and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. Balbuena-Gomez is scheduled to be sentenced in the case by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Samantha Elliott on December 10, 2026.
According to court documents and statements, in early 2024, law enforcement agencies began investigating a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) based in Massachusetts and operating in New Hampshire. During the course of the conspiracy, the DTO trafficked multiple kilograms of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Balbuena-Gomez worked as a “runner” for the DTO, who would drive from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to sell drugs, including to an undercover officer. Balbuena-Gomez has been detained since his arrest in October 2024.
This charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life, a $10,000,000 fine, or both, and not less than 5 years of supervised release. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The Department of Homeland Security led the investigation with valuable assistance from the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office and New Hampshire State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Shannon and Yasir Sadat are prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF New Hampshire comprises agents and officers from FBI, HSI, IRS, DEA, ATF, USMS, and DSS with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — New Hampshire — U.S. Department of Justice press release.