NH man pleads guilty to unlawfully delivering a firearm to car theft suspect

A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty Thursday to unlawfully purchasing a semi-automatic handgun for an unlicensed person who later fired it near a public school and was arrested in connection with a “large-scale auto theft enterprise,” federal prosecutors said.

Isaiah Johnson, 24, of Merrimack, N.H., has admitted guilt to one count of trafficking in firearms by unlawful delivery, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. Initially he was arrested and charged in June.

In February 2024, Johnson purchased a tan 9-millimeter Glock 19X semi-automatic pistol from a gun shop in New Hampshire for a co-conspirator who prosecutors said did not qualify for a gun permit. About a week later, he handed over the firearm to the co-conspirator.

The co-conspirator was arrested at his home in Brockton in December 2024 and charged in Brockton Superior Court in connection with an investigation into a car theft company responsible for an estimated 63 stolen vehicles worth more than $2.6 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigators found the firearm Johnson purchased and two high-capacity magazines during a search of the co-conspirator’s home, officials said.

Online videos showed the co-conspirator firing the gun while it was equipped with a “selector switch,” effectively turning it into a fully automatic weapon, prosecutors said. The video was filmed near a public school in Brockton, where more than 50 shell casings were later found.

Johnson faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for the firearms trafficking charge, prosecutors said. He will be sentenced on March 11, 2026.