By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — On November 28, 2022, the Newport Police Department executed multiple search warrants, as well as two arrest warrants, that resulted in the apprehension and arrests of Braytn Kelley, 22, and Bryan Poisson, 19, both of Newport.
Poisson has been charged with Conspiracy to Commit Sale of Controlled Drugs, Possession of Controlled Drugs with Intent to Distribute and Felonious Use of a Firearm. Kelley has been charged with Conspiracy to Commit Sale of Controlled Drugs, Possession of Controlled Drugs with Intent to Distribute and a Robbery. Both Poisson and Kelley pleaded not guilty in Sullivan County Superior Court.
A third arrest was made while the search warrants were being executed. Jalyssa Robbins, 21, of Claremont, was arrested for hindering apprehension. Poisson was arrested at Robbins’ Claremont residence in conjunction with a search warrant executed at Poisson’s home on Myrtle Street in Newport.
According to the Newport Police Department press release, as well as the sworn affidavit for probable cause of arrest, this investigation has spanned the Newport Police Department, the Claremont Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force over the course of two years.
In 2020, Newport Police received a call regarding two males exchanging handguns in the street on Green Road. Police stopped the two individuals who were described in the call at a nearby convenience store and when the police asked to conduct a pat-down, one of the suspects fled on foot. The then juvenile, who did not run, was identified as Poisson and was found to have a large quantity of marijuana in his backpack. Police were able to locate the party that had fled on foot and believe he may have thrown a firearm in the river, but did locate 9mm bullets in his jacket.
That same year a search warrant was conducted at Kelley’s Myrtle Street residence after a confidential informant made a controlled purchase of narcotics. During the search, police located a handgun as well as suspected MDMA, buprenorphine, codeine, a large quantity of marijuana and ammunition. In 2021, Kelley pleaded guilty to a felony charge of Sale of Controlled Drugs and therefore prohibited from ever owning a firearm.
Since that time, Kelley and Poisson have been suspects in a number of drug sales resulting in overdoses including one case in which a 17-year-old male was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where he remained in a coma and eventually perished. The juvenile was reportedly seen purchasing psilocybin mushrooms from Poisson earlier that day. Kelley was suspected to have provided counterfeit Xanax to a Hanover High School student, an incident that resulted in three overdoses of Hanover High School students. It is important to note that neither Poisson nor Kelley were ever charged with any crimes in either of these situations.
In November 2022, a Claremont police officer received information from a confidential informant that both Kelley and Poisson were actively carrying firearms that were equipped with a mechanism that modified the handguns to allow them to go from semi-automatic to automatic fire. According to the informant, both Kelley and Poisson stated they had purchased the mechanisms from Jacob Benson, who was arrested earlier this year for distribution of controlled substances and illegal use of firearms. The same confidential informant claimed that they had purchased controlled substances from Kelley and Poisson as recently as days earlier.
Police were able to collect a significant amount of messages and photographs sent through the social media app Snapchat. A significant number of the photos of firearms and illicit drugs were posted to accounts controlled by Poisson and Kelley, while messages were obtained through the confidential informant, as well as a search warrant on Snapchat’s servers.
The Snapchat photos and messages show that both Kelley and Poisson were ordering large amounts of THC through the mail and having them delivered to their houses. Kelley, who is a felon and did not want to break probation, seemingly convinced Poisson to keep a significant portion of the drugs as well as all of the firearms at his residence. Information gleaned through the messages from Snapchat’s servers showcase Poisson alerting roughly the same four individuals to quantities and prices of marijuana.
On November 18, 2022, at roughly 9:50pm, Newport Police received a report that a Robert Bradley Jr had been attacked and pepper sprayed. Bradley alleges that he was likely led into a trap by a mutual acquaintance and was told to drive to a location in Newport. At this location, he alleges that he was attacked by Kelley and then pepper sprayed by the person who had driven Kelley to the location. The assailants then stole a number of Bradley’s items including a knife, his wallet and a fanny pack.
A search warrant was conducted on the car that Kelley was a passenger in and turned up a significant amount of illegal drugs, paraphernalia, Bradley’s possessions and a small bottle of alcohol. The vehicle was being operated at the time by a person under the age of 21 and they were arrested for Minor Transporting Alcohol.
The search warrants of Poisson’s residence turned up include pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns, marijuana and THC cartridges in packaging and quantity consistent with distribution, and a bulk amount of suspected Honey Butane Oil which is a condensed version of Marijuana. At Kelley’s residence police located a pound of marijuana, and loose pills.
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