FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TUESDAY - January 10, 2012

CONVICTED FELON SENTENCED FOR FIREARM CHARGES

NEW BERN - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court yesterday United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced MARK MURPHY, 28, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 115 months imprisonment to run consecutive to any previous state sentence. Following MURPHY’s confinement, he will be on supervised release for three years.

A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment charging MURPHY with one court of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and one count of possession of stolen firearms. On October 11, 2011, MURPHY pled guilty to the charges.

According to the investigation, a law enforcement officer noticed MURPHY and a companion walking through the parking lot of a shopping center on October 25, 2010. Because of recent robberies and burglaries in the area, the officer stopped to question MURPHY. It was learned that MURPHY had an outstanding arrest warrant. A search of MURPHY revealed a .40 caliber pistol and 9 rounds of ammunition. It was later determined that the firearm had been stolen. MURPHY was arrested.

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.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Raleigh Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Toby Lathan is serving as prosecutor for the government.