Brandon Barlow, 35, formerly of Nashua

NASHUA — Brandon Barlow, who was charged in March 2021 with selling fentanyl to a man who ingested the drug and died of an overdose, has pleaded guilty to one count of dispensing a controlled drug — death resulting in exchange for a State Prison term of 6-12 years.

Barlow, 35, was arrested following a lengthy investigation by Merrimack police into the death of Matthew Bailey, a 25-year-old resident of the town of Webster, who was found dead in Merrimack in early March 2018.

According to the sentencing agreement, two years of Barlow’s six-year minimum sentence was suspended, and Barlow has the opportunity to earn an additional six months credit off the minimum sentence, under the condition he enrolls in, and successfully completes, the substance use disorder treatment program called FOCUS; participates in any counseling, treatment or educational programs as recommended by prison officials; and remains on good behavior.

A second charge filed against Barlow — possession of a controlled drug — was dismissed as part of the agreement.

Hillsborough County Superior Court South Judge Charles Temple presided over the sentencing hearing.

Merrimack police, with the assistance of Nashua police, launched their investigation after Bailey’s body was discovered alongside the Daniel Webster Highway.

According to police and news reports at the time, Bailey’s overdose death was one of three that occurred in Merrimack within a month in early 2018.

One of them, a 49-year-old man, was found unresponsive at the Quality Inn just two days after Bailey’s body was found. The man, whose name is unknown, was later pronounced dead.

Not long afterward, police were called to the Residences on Daniel Webster for a report of an unresponsive man in the parking lot. Police found the man, later identified as Allen Bartlett, 36, of Manchester, lying on the edge of the parking lot, where he was pronounced deceased.

As for Barlow’s sentencing, Merrimack police Chief Brian Levesque and Attorney General John Formella said in a joint statement that the “successful investigation and prosecution” that led to Barlow’s arrest and subsequent sentencing “was the result of the joint efforts of Merrimack Police Department and the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Drug Prosecution Unit.”

They credited Assistant Attorneys General Danielle Sakowski and Meghan Hagaman for their work in prosecuting the case.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.