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Press Release

Two Pitt County Drug Traffickers Sentenced In Operation “No Quarter”

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

NEW BERN - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced NIGEL OMAR GRAY, 34, of Greenville, North Carolina, to 131 months of imprisonment and 5 years of supervised and TORRICK JOHNTRELLE RODGERS, 34, of Farmville, North Carolina, to 211 months of imprisonment and 5 years supervised release.  GRAY previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin and 500 grams or more of cocaine.   RODGERS previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and three other federal drug charges.

GRAY was arrested on February 16, 2012, after GRAY agreed to purchase one kilogram of heroin and a half kilogram of cocaine from an undercover operative working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Greenville Police Department.  The investigation further revealed that GRAY was responsible for distributing an additional 1.5 kilograms of heroin and 28 grams of cocaine since 2000.  GRAY faced an enhanced sentence due to his prior convictions which qualified him as a career offender.
  RODGERS was arrested on December 3, 2010, after officers found 53 grams of cocaine and 62 grams of crack cocaine during a search of RODGERS’ house pursuant to a search warrant obtained by the Farmville Police Department.  The investigation also involved two controlled purchases of crack cocaine from RODGERS.  The investigation revealed that from 2008 until his arrest, RODGERS purchased over 2 kilograms of cocaine which he converted into 2.8 kilograms of crack cocaine which he later sold. RODGERS faced an enhanced sentence due to his prior convictions which qualified him as a career offender

     The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation "No Quarter" was designed to attack the infrastructure of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO), including those of the Los Zetas, La Familia, Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels, operating not only in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but throughout North Carolina, the United States and Mexico.  These DTO's are responsible for the importation of large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States, as well as the related remittance of illegal drug proceeds back into Mexico. 
     The investigation spanned ten years and five North Carolina counties. As part of the investigation, over 100 individuals have been charged by indictment or criminal information in the Eastern District of North Carolina and state courts. Law enforcement officials seized drugs with a street value of $4.6 million, including 127 kilograms of cocaine, 53 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 160 pounds of marijuana, and 32 grams of heroin.  Additionally, $2.2 million in U.S. Currency, 35 firearms and 35 real properties valued at $1.5 million were seized by law enforcement authorities.

     Investigation of this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Raleigh and Greensboro Resident Offices, the New York Field Division and numerous other DEA offices in the United States and Mexico;  the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) - Raleigh and Wilmington offices; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Raleigh and Tampa, Florida offices; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the North Carolina National Guard; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Greenville Police Department; the Pitt County Sheriff's Office; the Pamlico County Sheriff's Office; the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office; the Craven County Sheriff's Office; the Carteret County Sheriff's Office; the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office; the New Bern Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office; the Person County Sheriff's Office; the Farmville Police Department; the Goldsboro Police Department; the Rocky Mount Police Department; the Burlington Police Department, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, and the Wilson Police Department.

The federal prosecutions were handled by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn Perry and Augustus Willis, IV.  Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Willis is a prosecutor with the Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties District Attorney’s Office.  District Attorneys Kimberly Robb and Scott Thomas have assigned Mr. Perry and Mr. Willis to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Their assignments to the United States Attorney’s Office have been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.

Updated July 14, 2015