By Patrick Adrian
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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Megan Horsfield is currently serving an 18-month sentence for an aggravated DWI charge, not District Court attorney Justin Hersh.
NEWPORT — Croydon resident Megan Horsfield will serve up to 10 years in New Hampshire State Prison for her role in a drug ring that brought significant volumes of heroin, fentanyl, and bath salts into Sullivan County.
Horsfield, 30, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell heroin and fentanyl Tuesday in Sullivan County Superior Court, was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms totaling between four to 10 years. In addition to receiving a sentence of three to seven years for the conspiracy charge, Horsfield received a consecutive sentence of one to three years for committing the offense while out on bail for other charges.
Horsfield was allegedly one of several members involved in a drug ring that procured and distributed large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, and bath salts in the Sullivan County area, according to District County Attorney Justin Hersh. The alleged leader of this organization, Newport resident Elizabeth Ball, 25, was arrested on October 10, 2019.
While Ball was being detained in Sullivan County Corrections, Horsfield allegedly had multiple phone conversations with Ball regarding the disposal of the drugs in the operation’s stash house, in which Ball instructed Horsfield to sell the drugs, Hersh said.
“At the time of the offense Horsfield was under condition for bail for a felony DWI at the time,” Hersh said.
Horsfield is currently serving an 18-month sentence for an aggravated DWI charge stemming from a one-car crash in Newport on July 22, 2019. Horsfield, who was allegedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and one passenger, Justin Butler of Newport, sustained severe injuries and were transported by ambulance to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, according to the police report.
Police alleged documented approximately 377 text messages and phone conversations exchanged between Horsfield and Ball between the months of September and October, where the conversations included procuring heroin and fentanyl and arranging trips to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to pick up drugs, Hersh said.
Defense Attorney Bruce Jasper asked that Horsfield receive a similar sentence given to Claremont resident Brian Coleman, 48, another participant in the alleged drug operation.
Coleman was sentenced to a 12 month sentence in Sullivan County Corrections through the county’s Transitional Re-entry and Inmate Life Skills (TRAILS) program.
Jasper said that despite the existence of conversations between Horsfield and Ball to procure and distribute drugs, it is not known whether Horsfield carried out any of those discussions.
Horsfield, speaking to Justice Brian Tucker, said she purchased the majority of drugs for her own use to feed her drug addiction.
Hersh, however, challenged Jasper’s claim that she was not distributing drugs for money, which he said was contradictory to specific comments she made in her text exchanges with Ball.
“The court cannot honestly believe that 377 text messages back and forth over a period of time, largely about the distribution and procurement of controlled drugs, is not evidence of her carrying that out,” Hersh said.
Hersh also explained that Coleman’s case did not have the same volume of evidence against him as there was against Horsfield, nor was Coleman out on bail when arrested.
Tucker said that while he understood the role of addiction in Horsfield’s criminal activities, he could not ignore her pattern of recidivism.
Horsfield is currently serving her third prison term with felony convictions dating as far back as 2008.
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