Former Owner of S&D Gun Show Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon

NEW BERN, N.C. – A Pamlico County man was sentenced on August 24, 2021, to 12 months and one day in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon.  Additionally, he was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit all of his firearms and ammunition.  On July 11, 2019, Sherwood Watson Caraway pled guilty to the charges.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Caraway, 62, had previously been convicted in federal court for illegally dealing firearms without a license in 2005.  Caraway at that time owned and operated S&D Show Promotions, Inc., a gun and knife show production company that holds events throughout Eastern North Carolina.  Despite his conviction, Caraway continued to operate gun shows in the area.  Investigation in 2016 and 2017 revealed that Caraway continued to possess multiple firearms in his home in Merritt, North Carolina.  On September 2, 2017, detectives with the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Caraway’s home.  They located numerous rifles, shotguns, and handguns, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.  Agents also searched a residence owned by Caraway’s daughter, where they seized another 33 firearms that had previously been kept at Caraway’s house.  In total, the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) seized over forty firearms.  After pleading guilty to these charges, Caraway sold his interest in the gun shows in 2020.

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 Louise W. Flanagan.  The Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office and ATF investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura S. Howard 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. 4:19-CR-00032-FL.