SNOW HILL/SALISBURY, MD - A Snow Hill and a Salisbury man have both pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Ohio after they were caught attempting to smuggle fentanyl from Ohio to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
According to Ohio’s Muskingum County Prosecutor, police were patrolling in Zanesville, OH on August 30, 2024, when they saw a car fail to signal while turning and pulled the vehicle over. Among the car’s 4 passengers were Bryden Bibbins, 24, of Snow Hill, and Antonio Collins, 44, of Salisbury.
Prosecutors say they found more than 1,800 blue pills in the front seat of the car designed to look like Percocet pills but were actually made of fentanyl. The bag also contained four bricks of fentanyl powder, according to authorities. A machine gun was also found in the car.
A search of Bibbins’ phone revealed over 450 text messages about distributing drugs, prosecutors say. Further investigation revealed Bibbins was paying Collins to drive him from Maryland to Columbus, OH to purchase the drugs and then bring them back to sell on the Eastern Shore.
Prosecutors say Collins pleaded guilty to attempted trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound. He faces up to eight years in prison.
Bibbins initially rejected a plea deal of 15 years and a trial was set for this week on December 10. On the second day of the trial, prosecutors say Bibbins changed his mind and pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking fentanyl, accepting a recommended sentence of 22 years.
“They may not have intended those pills for Zanesville's streets, but it was Muskingum County's obligation—and in fact, our pleasure—to help the people of Snow Hill and Salisbury, Maryland by removing these evil men from the streets, for as long as the law and the facts allow,” Muskingum County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle said.
