Agawam Man Cops to Stealing Guns, Trading for Drugs

David Poirier, 26, of Agawam, is headed behind bars after admitting he stole two loaded handguns and a rifle frame from a family member’s locked safe and flipped them for street drugs. The theft, which occurred over a five-day stretch in June 2020, targeted a federally licensed firearms dealer — a relative who operates a legal gun business out of Western Massachusetts.

Poirier lifted a STI Edge 40 caliber pistol, a Glock 34 9 mm pistol, a Stag Arms Stag 15 lower frame, and an undisclosed amount of cash from the safe between June 18 and June 23, 2020. He didn’t hold onto the weapons long. Instead, he moved fast — trading the stolen arsenal for narcotics, deepening the link between gun trafficking and the region’s drug crisis.

In December 2020, Poirier pleaded guilty to two federal counts: theft of a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer and possession, sale, or disposal of a stolen firearm. On sentencing day in Springfield federal court, U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni handed down a three-month prison term, followed by three years of supervised release — with the first two months of that time to be served under home confinement.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett under the umbrella of Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell’s Criminal Division. The prosecution leaned on coordination between federal and local forces — including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Massachusetts State Police, and the Agawam Police Department — underscoring the multi-agency crackdown on illegal gun movement.

James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Boston Field Office, Colonel Christopher Mason of the Massachusetts State Police, and Agawam Police Chief Eric Gillis all joined in the public announcement, sending a clear message: stealing from a licensed dealer and funneling guns into the underground market carries federal consequences.

This conviction is a direct hit under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Justice Department’s nationwide push to dismantle violent crime pipelines. Revived in 2017, PSN pairs prosecutors with street-level law enforcement to target offenders who threaten community safety — especially those who traffic in stolen weapons or use guns to fuel drug operations. Poirier’s sentence reflects the stakes: steal a gun, trade it for a high, and the federal system will come calling.