Fayetteville Man Sentenced for Firearm Charge

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced JAVION SCOTT, 27, of Fayetteville, North Carolina to 78 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

SCOTT was named in an Indictment on April 24, 2017.  On March 12, 2018, SCOTT pled guilty to one-count of Possession of a Firearm by a Felon.

On March 29, 2017, officers with the Fayetteville Police Department, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Cumberland County Probation and Parole office in Fayetteville, conducted a warrantless search at the residence of SCOTT, who was subject to post-release supervision conditions due to prior felony convictions, including Second Degree Sexual Offense.  The officers knocked on the door at 7:20 a.m., and it took several minutes for SCOTT to answer the door.  Investigators determined that SCOTT’s girlfriend threw two semi-automatic pistols, ammunition, a loaded large capacity magazine, a loaded magazine, an unloaded magazine, and an unspecified amount of marijuana over the balcony. The firearms were kept in SCOTT’s bedroom.  Investigation revealed that one of the firearms was reported stolen in Sampson County, on August 20, 2013.  Investigators recovered a third pistol and 35 grams of marijuana in SCOTT’S vehicle.

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.

In support of PSN, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative.  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.

The Fayetteville Police Department, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Cumberland County Probation and Parole Office in Fayetteville conducted the criminal investigation of this case.  Assistant United States Attorney James J. Kurosad handled the prosecution of this case for the government.