Hope Mills Man Sentenced on Drug and Gun Charges

RALEIGH – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that in federal court yesterday, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Tavares Graham, 40, of Hope Mills, to 120 months’ imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release. 

On April 18, 2018, GRAHAM pled guilty to one count charging possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 28 grams or more of cocaine base (crack) and another count charging possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  

Officers of the Fayetteville Police Department, with assistance from the Hope Mills Police Department, obtained a search warrant for GRAHAM’s Hope Mills residence based on reports from informants and drug evidence found in GRAHAM’s trash.  On May 25, 2016, law enforcement executed the search warrant, finding 720 grams of cocaine and 25 grams of crack cocaine in GRAHAM’s kitchen and garage.  In the garage not far from the drugs, officers also found an Amadeo .38 special revolver and a separate magazine loaded with 12 9mm rounds.  Other seized evidence included supplies to cook crack cocaine, digital scales, and torn sandwich bags.

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, Hope Mills Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).  Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Pugh represented the government in this case.