CONCORD, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) A former owner of a Keene-area business has pleaded guilty in connection with a federal investigation into an alleged international firearms trafficking network that authorities say moved guns from New Hampshire into Canada, where some were later linked to violent crimes.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire, 80-year-old Doug Mulligan of New Salem, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on March 24 in U.S. District Court to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charge stemmed from his handling of a firearm at American Trikes & Motorsports in Keene, a business he previously owned.

Federal prosecutors said Mulligan’s plea agreement included a photograph of a handwritten note left on targets connected to the ongoing federal investigation that read, “ATF is watching U.”

Mulligan is scheduled to be sentenced July 6.

The case is part of a broader federal crackdown announced Wednesday involving 13 people accused of participating in a firearms trafficking conspiracy operating between New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Canada.

Authorities allege the operation began in July 2021 and continued through at least October 2024. Investigators say individuals in and around Keene and Dummerston, Vermont, were recruited to make “straw purchases” of firearms at federally licensed dealers, including American Trikes & Motorsports in Keene.

According to court documents, members of the trafficking network allegedly obtained firearms through third-party purchasers and transported them through the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in northern New York before they were smuggled into Canada.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations identified approximately 51 firearms believed to have been trafficked through the operation. Several were later recovered at Canadian crime scenes connected to investigations involving kidnapping and attempted murder, prosecutors said.

Five defendants, including Mulligan, have pleaded guilty to various federal firearms offenses. Eight additional defendants from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation were indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6 on charges related to firearms trafficking and straw purchasing.

In a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said the defendants allegedly “treated the Northern Border as a pipeline for illegal gun trafficking.”

The investigation involved numerous agencies in the United States and Canada, including ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, the Keene Police Department, Ontario Provincial Police, and Canadian border authorities.

The charges against the remaining defendants are allegations, and all are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Read earlier stories:

Felon With Ties to Keene Motorsports Shop Pleads Guilty in Federal Firearms Case – My Keene Now