A Westbrook man pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to bath salts distribution and obstruction of justice.

Christopher Coombs, 43, entered the plea and also admitted that he had violated his supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. He has been on release since his 2008 conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base.

According to court records, law enforcement officers observed the delivery of about 500 grams of alpha-PHP – a type of the synthetic drug bath salts – to Coombs’ home in Westbrook on Oct. 31. The package, which originated in China, had been intercepted in New York by customs agents.

Once Coombs accepted the package, he was placed under arrest. After his arrest, Coombs directed his wife to delete emails relevant to the bath salts investigation – actions that led to the obstruction of justice charge.

Coombs faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the drug charge, as well as up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine on the obstruction charge. He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Westbrook Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service.

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