Jan. 6—Federal investigators say a Biddeford man paid a person to buy guns for him in exchange for drugs and cash, then sold the weapons to known drug dealers and gang members in Massachusetts.
Dustin Fontaine, 28, was arrested Friday during a raid at 16 Clifford St. in Biddeford. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Homeland Security Special Agent David Fife began investigating the “substantial” firearms straw purchasing conspiracy after U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Kentucky intercepted an international shipment destined for a second man from Old Orchard Beach who is prohibited from possessing guns. The package from Hong Kong contained what investigators believed to be two machine gun conversion devices, according to a court affidavit filed by Fife.
When agents in Maine searched the man’s house in Old Orchard Beach, they found numerous guns and about 20 empty pistol boxes that did not match any of the firearms found in the house. While reviewing the man’s phone, Fife found a series of text messages with Fontaine “in which he organized gun purchases, gun sales and narcotics transactions, in some cases all within the same thread,” Fife wrote.
Fife said in court documents that the text messages show the two men and another individual — a cooperating defendant who is facing charges but not identified in court records — conspired to obtain guns through straw purchases and then sell them to people out of state.
A straw purchase is when someone who is not legally allowed to purchase or own a gun has someone else buy it for them. According to court records, Fontaine is a felon who is also not allowed to purchase firearms.
In August 2023, Fontaine and the Old Orchard Beach man discussed with the cooperating defendant the guns they needed that person to buy the next day “to fulfill an ‘order’ for an out-of-state gang associate” who would soon be traveling to Maine, according to court records. Fife said Fontaine, who is also known as Dizzy, wrote in text messages that the person buying the guns was paid with cash and drugs.
Records obtained by agents from Kittery Trading Post showed multiple pistols had been sold to the cooperating defendant from January to August 2023, all of which matched screenshots Fontaine had sent of the guns he wanted purchased, according to court records.
The cooperating defendant told agents that they were reluctant to start buying weapons but agreed to do it after being offered drugs and money. They usually received $100 in cash and some crack cocaine for each weapon, and they purchased between two and five guns at a time. They estimated they purchased around 100 guns for Fontaine, according to court records.
Fontaine eventually told the cooperating defendant that the guns were being sold out of state. The cooperating defendant told agents that Fontaine and the Old Orchard Beach man “were in an equal partnership with their drug and gun trafficking enterprise,” Fife wrote in the affidavit.
A message requesting an interview with Fontaine’s attorney was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.
Fontaine made his initial appearance in court on Jan. 3. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
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