RALEIGH - The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that in federal court today, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle Howard, sentenced ERVIN RODELL HUGHES, 39, of Weldon, NC to 75 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.
HUGES was named in an Indictment filed on July 24, 2017. On Aug. 3, 2017, HUGHES pled guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.
The investigation began in April 2016, after the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) received information from a confidential informant (CI) that HUGHES was selling cocaine from his residence in Weldon. Consequently, between April 13, 2016, and June 8, 2016, the HCSO utilized a CI to conduct two controlled purchases of cocaine totaling.73 gram from HUGHES at his home.
On June 10, 2016, the HCSO executed a search warrant at HUGHES’ residence. HUGHES was present during the search. Inside HUGHES’ bedroom closet, law enforcement found a loaded.380 Caliber handgun, 7.06 grams of cocaine, and two digital scales. Law enforcement also located a small-unspecified quantity of marijuana, a marijuana grinder, and other drug paraphernalia inside HUGHES’ home.
This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort" against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the criminal investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette handled the prosecution of this case for the government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
