BANGOR – A Trenton man considered to be a major drug dealer in Hancock County pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to federal drug and gun charges.

It was the fourth time in a year that Darrell W. Dolliver, 34, has been brought from the Hancock County Jail, where he is being held on related state charges, to the federal courthouse in Bangor to enter his guilty plea.

The three previous times he was scheduled to enter guilty pleas, Dolliver’s case was continued for various procedural reasons.

Dolliver also was found guilty Thursday of using a gun to further drug activity after a two-hour bench trial before U.S. District Judge John Woodcock.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on the charges he pleaded guilty to and an additional mandatory five years on the gun charge Woodcock found him guilty of. He also could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $1 million.

A sentencing date has not been set.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Dolliver pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Four other gun charges are expected to be dropped at sentencing.

Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Dolliver is facing a total of between 17 and 18 years in federal prison, his attorney, Jon Haddow of Bangor, said Thursday.

Dolliver’s trial in Hancock County Superior Court on related state charges of burglary, theft, criminal mischief and other charges was scheduled to begin Thursday, but was postponed due to the federal court proceeding.

A new date for that trial has not been set.

The federal and state charges stem from Dolliver’s arrest in September 2003, when police seized items that Dolliver has admitted he traded for drugs.

In addition to 17 guns, the items recovered at two Ellsworth self-storage facilities Dolliver rented were a church piano, a silver Communion tray, two all-terrain vehicles, five plastic storage bins filled with sports trading cards, televisions, sporting equipment, an antique workbench, an air conditioner and a stuffed duck.

Dolliver also is charged in state court with allegedly helping Southwest Harbor resident Stephen Hanson temporarily elude police in September 2003. Hanson, 23, was sentenced in May 2004 to four years in prison for helping to steal $35,000 in cash and checks in August 2003 from a Southwest Harbor convenience store.