CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Jovan Callaghan, 25, and Chrystal Callaghan, 42, of Manchester, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, fentanyl and crack cocaine, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in the spring of 2020, investigators received information from confidential sources that Jovan and Chrystal Callaghan and a co-defendant were selling crack cocaine and fentanyl from their residence in Manchester. Law enforcement officers learned that Chrystal Callaghan and a co-conspirator would travel to New York to purchase crack cocaine. On three separate occasions, officers conducted lawful traffic stops of their vehicle returning from New York and seized over 300 grams of crack cocaine. In late 2020, confidential sources conducted six controlled purchases of fentanyl and crack cocaine from the three co-defendants.
On December 24, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant at the residence and seized over one kilogram of fentanyl and a firearm, along with large amounts of cash and drug use and packaging materials.
Jovan and Chrystal Callaghan are scheduled to be sentenced on July 6, 2021.
Charges against a third defendant, Melissa Gazaway, remain pending.
“Drug traffickers endanger our citizens and damage our neighborhoods,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the drug dealers who are peddling fentanyl and other deadly drugs in the Granite State. Thanks to the hard work of our federal, state, and local partners, these individuals will no longer be selling deadly drugs in Manchester.”
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Hampshire State Police, the Manchester Police Department, and the Nashua Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgiana L. MacDonald.