CHARLOTTE, N.C. - U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Samuel Lamont Harris Sr., 28, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was sentenced to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for illegal possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell presided over the hearing.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on March 30, 2019, a state trooper with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Harris was driving in Lincoln County, North Carolina. During the traffic stop, law enforcement determined that Harris was driving with a suspended license and located a loaded firearm between the center console and the passenger side seat of the vehicle. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that the firearm was reported stolen on or about November 5, 2018, out of Caldwell County, North Carolina. Harris has a prior felony conviction and he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
On Sept. 11, 2021, Harris pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the North Carolina Highway Patrol for their investigation of this case, and thanked District Attorney Mike Miller, of North Carolina’s 39th Prosecutorial District, for his office’s invaluable assistance and coordination.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
