A Peterborough resident on probation has been sentenced to up to five years in prison for being in possession of firearms and drugs. In Hillsborough County Superior Court North, Branden French pleaded guilty to 12 counts of Felon in Possession of a Deadly Weapon, and four counts of Possession of a Controlled Drug, also a felony.

French’s violations stem from a 2022 conviction of criminal threatening in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District. On April 13 of that year, Greenfield police received a report from a man who said French had threatened an individual with a gun and shot it in the air the night prior, per an affidavit filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court North written by Peterborough Police Sgt. Christopher Martin. After an individual with whom French had been arguing online arrived at his residence by vehicle, French began pointing the gun in his direction and shouting, “I’m going to kill you,” according to the affidavit. The individual said he got back in the vehicle and as he was backing out of the driveway, French fired his gun into the air but in the individual’s general direction, the affidavit states.

A Hillsborough County Superior Court judge sentenced French to jail time after he pleaded guilty to threatening with a gun, and he spent 144 days. Court documents state that nine months of his sentence on a misdemeanor charge would be suspended if he maintained good behavior.

According to the Peterborough Police, on Oct. 3 of last year, “an officer from New Hampshire Probation & Parole conducted a home visit and made contact with French. During the visit, the Probation Officer located numerous drugs and firearms. Officers from the Peterborough Police Department responded and took French into custody.” 

Since that time, French had been held at Valley Street Jail in Manchester, and on May 30, he pleaded guilty to the charges stemming from being a felon in possession of the guns and controlled substances and was sentenced to 2 ½ to 5 years at the state prison in Concord, per a Peterborough Police press release. Following his prison sentence, he received an additional 3 ½- to 7-year sentence, which is suspended for five additional years. The Peterborough Police also noted its “sincere appreciation and gratitude to the New Hampshire Department of Corrections - Probation & Parole and the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office” which collaborated to “ensure that justice was served appropriately.”