Fayetteville Man Sentenced for Drug & Felon in Possession Charges

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announces that  JOHNNY DEWAYNE MCARTHUR, 33, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was sentenced to 62 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

MCARTHUR was named in a three-count Indictment on November 29, 2017.  On May 7, 2018, MCARTHUR pled guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Marijuana and to Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.

On October 29, 2017, officers with the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD), were on foot patrol due to gun violence and narcotics activity at a local establishment.  The officers detected the smell of burnt marijuana coming from a vehicle with four occupants.  As the officer approached the vehicle, one of the occupants partially opened a door, and it became apparent that the smell was coming from inside the vehicle.  One of the officers made contact with the driver, who was later identified as MCARTHUR. MCARTHUR handed the officer a rolled cigar, stating they only had “one blunt.”  MCARTHUR and the three occupants exited the vehicle in order for the officer to conduct a search of the vehicle.  The officer found a glass jar containing three plastic bags totaling approximately 13 grams of marijuana in the center console.  As the officer attempted to detain MCARTHUR, he pulled away and fled on foot.  A foot chase ensued where the officer witnessed MCARTHUR remove something from his right front pocket and throw it onto the roof of a building.  A search of the building roof found a .380 caliber handgun loaded with one round in the chamber and four rounds in the magazine.  The firearm was also determined to be stolen.

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.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting 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.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Fayetteville Police Department and Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette handled the prosecution of this case for the government.