GREENVILLE - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that CEDRIC SHARROD WILLIAMS, 32, of Scotland Neck, ALONZO KEITH CARTER, 36, of Rocky Mount, DERRICK LAMONT HANNON, 24, of Scotland Neck, HERMAN LEE COLEY, III, 40, of Rocky Mount, JERRY KEITH PITTMAN, JR., 26, of Sharpsburg, and JOSEPH LAMAR NORRIS, 31 of Rocky Mount, were each sentenced resulting from their earlier guilty pleas to distributing large quantities of heroin, cocaine and cocaine base (crack). The charges involved a large scale narcotics ring responsible for selling 2,493 grams of heroin, 255.15 grams of cocaine, and 49 grams of crack from sometime in 2011 until February 2014 centered in the Rocky Mount area.
“We are making a difference when it comes to getting major drug dealing organizations out of communities. We are working toward diminishing the quantity of illegal drugs that enter our city," said Rocky Count Police Chief James Moore. “However it’s not just a Rocky Mount problem. It’s a North Carolina and an America problem - and until we address the issue of the unquenchable thirst for drugs in this country, it will be a perpetual cycle of apprehension and distribution, no matter how much enforcement we do."
All 6 defendants were sentenced by Senior Judge Malcolm J. Howard. WILLIAMS was sentenced to 480 months. CARTER was sentenced to 120 months; HANNON was sentenced to 66 months imprisonment; COLEY was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment; PITTMAN was sentenced to 41 months; and NORRIS was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
According to the investigation, the co-conspirators were members of a heroin trafficking organization, organized by WILLIAMS, and centered in the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, area. The conspirators were involved in the distribution of heroin from sometime in 2011 until February 2014. Further investigation revealed that WILLIAMS maintained a source of supply for heroin in New Jersey and he traveled to New Jersey on multiple occasions with HANNON, COLEY, and others to obtain heroin for sale in the Rocky Mount area.
On June 15, 2012, agents received information from a confidential informant (CI) that WILLIAMS returned the previous day from New Jersey with a large quantity of heroin. Agents
conducted surveillance of WILLIAMS and they observed him conduct multiple drug transactions from a vehicle on Sunset Avenue in Rocky Mount. Officer’s conducted traffic stops on three individuals who had purchased narcotics from WILLIAMS. All three individuals, who were arrested on state charges, admitted that they purchased heroin from WILLIAMS. Officers recovered 72 bindles (1.44 grams) of heroin from the occupants of the vehicle. Upon his arrest, WILLIAMS confessed to agents that he traveled to New Jersey with HANNON and COLEY on June 13, 2012, to purchase heroin. WILLIAMS advised agents that there was heroin, money, and a shotgun at his residence in Rocky Mount. During a search of the residence officers recovered 22 bricks (22 grams) of heroin, a 12 gauge shotgun, one box of.45 caliber ammunition, two boxes of 12 gauge shotgun shells, and $4,358. WILLIAMS also admitted to having thrown drugs out of his vehicle prior to being arrested. As a result, agents were able to recover an additional 60 bindles (1.2 grams) of heroin. During the conspiracy, WILLIAMS confessed to purchasing approximately 20 grams per week from his source in New Jersey. Over the course of the investigation, WILLIAMS was caught possessing numerous illegal firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration-Raleigh, Rocky Mount Police Department, and the Nash County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney James Kurosad is handling the prosecution for the government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
