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Press Release
Press Release
RALEIGH — United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced LEMEYON WALKER, 30, of Elizabeth City to 41 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release. WALKER was named in a single-count Indictment on October 10, 2019, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. On November 15, 2019, he pled guilty to a Criminal Information that alleged the same charge.
According to the investigation, at around 2:30 a.m. on December 3, 2017, a Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office Deputy spotted a black Dodge Journey parked on the side of the highway. The car appeared to have been disabled, so the deputy stopped to conduct a welfare check.
He identified WALKER as the driver and a female passenger. WALKER stated that they had run out of gas and he was working on contacting someone to bring some more. WALKER’s hands were trembling and the deputy could smell burnt marijuana.
After a second deputy arrived, officers deployed a K-9, which alerted for the presence of drugs in the car. Deputies then conducted a search, finding a small built-in compartment on the rear passenger side floor. Inside, they found 51 rounds of Winchester .40 caliber ammunition. Elsewhere in the car, they found drug paraphernalia and a folded dollar bill that contained suspected cocaine.
When deputies asked WALKER and the passenger about who was responsible for the cocaine, WALKER stared at his passenger, seeming to suggest that she should accept responsibility. She responded angrily, yelling at him that he knew the drugs were not hers. She then blurted out, “that’s okay, he has a gun.” She told deputies the gun was either on his person or was placed under the hood when they broke down.
Within the engine bay of the car, deputies found a silver and black KAHR Firearms CW40 .40 caliber pistol, wrapped in a rag. WALKER and the passenger were arrested and transported to the station. While being processed, the passenger explained that she and WALKER had been fighting before the deputy had arrived. WALKER had struck her in the face, causing an abrasion on her left upper lip. He had then pulled out the handgun and fired a round outside the window to scare her.
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 in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.
The Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Pugh represented the government.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.