CONCORD – Kyle Mehlhorn, 28, of Merrimack, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for multiple drug trafficking and firearm charges, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 27, 2020, Manchester police officers observed a vehicle with wrongfully attached license plates and made a traffic stop. Mehlhorn was the driver and he had a female passenger. A records check of Mehlhorn revealed his license and registration were suspended and he was placed under arrest. The passenger was cooperative and identified her belongings in the vehicle. On November 2, 2020, after obtaining a search warrant, Manchester police officers searched the vehicle and found over 209 grams of methamphetamine, over 28 grams of fentanyl, various items used in drug packaging, $13,800 in cash, and two loaded firearms. At the time of his arrest, Mehlhorn was a previously convicted felon and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
In January of 2021, Mehlhorn was arrested in Boston on a complaint from the District of New Hampshire. Mehlhorn was armed with a 9 mm handgun and was carrying a backpack containing over 196 grams of methamphetamine and over 187 grams of fentanyl. A subsequent search warrant for the vehicle revealed an additional .22 caliber handgun.
Mehlhorn previously pleaded guilty on August 6, 2021. He will forfeit the firearms and cash seized in January of 2021. The money and firearms seized in October of 2020 have already been forfeited.
“Armed drug traffickers like Kyle Mehlhorn pose a serious threat to the community by carrying deadly weapons and selling dangerous substances,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “As a convicted felon, Mehlhorn should not have had a gun. Instead, he possessed multiple guns while peddling significant quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine. This lengthy sentence shows that the law enforcement community is working hard to protect the Granite State from violent crime and to hold armed criminals accountable for their actions.”
“Armed with multiple firearms and deadly drugs, Kyle Mehlhorn is responsible for bringing danger and violence to our neighborhoods, and for this, he will spend significant time behind bars, said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “The FBI’s New Hampshire Safe Streets Gang Task Force will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to rid our communities of armed drug dealing criminals.”
“This investigation and subsequent arrest of the defendant is another example of the outstanding work being done by the officers and detectives of the Manchester Police Department,” said Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg. “We continue to value our state and local law enforcement partnerships which greatly assist in holding people such as this defendant accountable for their behavior.”
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the New Hampshire State Police, the Manchester Police Department, the Concord Police Department, the Gorham Police Department, and the Boston (MA) Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Rombeau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Rabuck assisted with forfeiture aspects of this matter.
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