Manchester Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Trafficking and Firearms Charges

            CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Mark Manapsil, 35, of Manchester, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to distribution of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 17, 2016, and November 2, 2016, Manapsil sold quantities of cocaine to an individual who was cooperating with law enforcement officers.  On November 29, 2016, Manapsil, a convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing guns, sold a semi-automatic rifle to the cooperating individual for $900.  On March 22, 2017, Manapsil was found in possession of 497 grams of cocaine when his vehicle was stopped by the New Hampshire State Police in Nashua.

            Manapsil will be sentenced on October 21, 2019.

            “Drug traffickers are engaged in a hazardous business,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.   “Frequently, they equip themselves with firearms, thereby increasing the risk to the community.  In order to combat this threat, we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to pursue federal prosecutions of armed drug traffickers.”

            "Drug traffickers have no place in our community and the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to do everything we can to stop the movement and sale of drugs on our streets, while ensuring  that our neighborhoods are free from illegal firearms," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

           The case was investigated by the FBI, DEA, New Hampshire State Police, and Manchester Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Cole Davis is prosecuting the case.

            This investigation was conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.