Dover Man Pleads Guilty to Dealing Fentanyl

A Dover man pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal counts of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, as Dover remains one of the communities hardest hit by the state’s opioid epidemic.

Marc Martin, 44, was found with more than 70 grams of fentanyl during the course of an investigation that started in June 2019, according to court records.

“Fentanyl traffickers are seeking to profit from the sales of this deadly substance,” said acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “In order to stop the flow of fentanyl into the Granite State, we continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the dealers who are obtaining and distributing this dangerous drug.”

Dover police started investigating Martin after getting complaints that he was dealing drugs out of his apartment. Detectives conducted surveillance and observed a man enter and leave the apartment a short time later. When stopped and questioned by the detectives, the man told them he had bought fentanyl from Martin, according to court records.

Police obtained a search warrant for the apartment and found more than 32 grams of fentanyl, drug packaging, and a cell phone that contained evidence of drug activity, according to court records.

As that case was ongoing, the same detectives followed Martin as he drove to an Amesbury, Massachusetts, grocery store parking lot in January 2020. After a short time in the parking lot, Martin headed north to New Hampshire where he was stopped.

Martin then admitted to the police he had drugs and handed over a bag containing 39 grams of fentanyl, according to court records.

According to the New Hampshire Drug Monitoring Initiative, Dover and neighboring Rochester had the highest death rate due to opioid overdose in the Seacoast region. The latest DMI report shows that both towns saw between 11 and 25 deaths each in 2020.

Dover and Rochester are also among the highest in the administration of NARCAN by first responders during the past year, according to the DMI report.

Martin is scheduled to be sentenced in the United States District Court in Concord on December 21.