RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 GREGORY DEVON OBEY, 28, of Smithfield, North Carolina, was convicted for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy as well as multiple counts of distributing cocaine and crack cocaine.
On August 8, 2012, a Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment that charged OBEY with one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and 5 kilograms or more of powder cocaine. The Indictment also charged OBEY with 7 counts of distributing powder cocaine and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine from Aug. 30, 2011, up to and including June 13, 2012. On Jan. 25, 2013, after a three-day trial, a jury found OBEY guilty on all counts. Based on these convictions, OBEY faces up to a life sentence in prison.
The evidence in the case demonstrated that from at least March 2011, up to and including June 12, 2012, OBEY and at least seven other individuals conspired to distribute crack and powder cocaine. In his statement, OBEY admitted that he had obtained over 55 kilograms of crack cocaine and over 79 kilograms of powder cocaine from his sources of supply for re-distribution. During the investigation, seven controlled buys of cocaine and crack cocaine were conducted from OBEY, each recorded with an audio/video device. In addition, the evidence established that, upon his arrest, OBEY confessed to being a drug dealer and named approximately seven other co-conspirators with whom he had been trafficking cocaine and crack cocaine. The evidence developed also revealed that, shortly before his arrest, OBEY threatened a witness in the case.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Smithfield Police Department, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Rudy E. Renfer represented the government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys