Clayton Man Sentenced to 37 Months for Illegally Possessing a Firearm

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced SERGIO EZEQUIEL ALVEAR, 23, of Clayton, NC to 37 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

ALVEAR was named in an indictment filed on March 6, 2019, charging him with Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Heroin on December 30, 2018.   On July 20, 2019, ALVEAR, with a written plea agreement, pled guilty to count one that charged Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. 

According to the investigation, on December 30, 2018, deputies with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office in Smithfield, North Carolina, attempted to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle operated by SERGIO EZEQUIEL ALVEAR; however, ALVEAR did not pull over. ALVEAR began traveling at a high rate of speed, crossed over the center lane into the left lane, went around three vehicles, lost control of the vehicle, ran off the left side of the road into an open field, struck a fence and crashed the vehicle into a guide wire of a nearby telephone pole. Following the crash, deputies detained ALVEAR.  ALVEAR informed the arresting deputies that there was a loaded firearm in the car.

A search of ALVEAR and his vehicle resulted in the seizure of a .380 caliber pistol, 7 rounds of ammunition, 7.2 grams of marijuana, 1 Xanax pill, and 19 bindles (0.38 gram) of heroin.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Since 2017, the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.  For more information about this initiative click here:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/tbnc.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel W. Smith prosecuted the case for the government.