Elizabeth City Felon Sentenced to More Than 5 Years for Possessing Firearm After Domestic Disturbance Call

RALEIGH, N.C. – Jaylen Nashawn Spivey, of Elizabeth City, was sentenced today to 64 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon.  On April 28, 2021, Spivey pled guilty to the charge.    

According to court documents and statements made during hearings, on the afternoon of Thursday, September 17, 2020, the Elizabeth City Police Department responded to a 911 call for a domestic disturbance.  The caller reported that a man had been yelling at a woman and was leaving the scene in a white Dodge Charger.  As officers arrived, the caller advised that the suspect was at the end of the adjacent street.

An officer went to that location and found the defendant Jaylen Spivey sitting alone in the driver’s seat of a car.  Officers approached to ask Spivey about the situation, and when Spivey rolled down his car window, they could smell marijuana.  They noted that Spivey’s clothing matched what the 911 caller had described. 

After detaining Spivey, the officers searched the car.  They recovered a scale and amounts of heroin and marijuana.  On the driver’s side floorboard, partially covered with clothing, officers found a black Ruger 9mm handgun.  In a later interview, Spivey admitted he had purchased the Ruger a couple months before his arrest for his own protection while selling drugs.  Spivey, who has a prior felony conviction for heroin, is a known associate of the Elizabeth City G-Shine Bloods street gang.  

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Elizabeth City Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:20-cr-0044-BO.