AUGUSTA — An Augusta woman faces a federal firearms charge for allegedly buying guns here for her drug dealer in Rochester, New York.
Samantha Bailey, 29, is to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Bangor within the next two weeks. She was summonsed to court on the complaint that accuses her of buying two Taurus 9mm pistols in February at North Augusta Firearms and falsely saying she was the actual buyer when she was not.
The complaint, charging her with making false statements to a federal firearms licensee, was filed Monday. The charge carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
An affidavit by Christopher Concannon, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who investigated the case, says that Bailey told him she was a heroin user and that she had bought the firearms for her drug dealer who was from New York.
Concannon said Bailey indicated she was told what kind of guns to buy and that two associates of the drug dealer took her to the firearms dealer and one gave her the money for the purchases.
Video surveillance footage shows Bailey completing the paperwork for the purchase, Concannon said. North Augusta Firearms is on Burns Road.
“Bailey admitted that she had been paid in heroin for purchasing the firearms for her drug dealer,” Concannon wrote in the affidavit that was filed in court.
One of the pistols was later recovered when police in Rochester “investigated a domestic disturbance during which her drug dealer reportedly discharged a firearm.” The firearm was recovered from a vehicle and then the manufacturer’s box for it along with the box for the second firearm were recovered when police executed a search warrant for the scene of the May 23 domestic dispute.
The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody Mullis. Attorney Terence Harrigan represents Bailey.
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Samantha Bailey
Samantha Bailey
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