Hope Mills Man Sentenced For Drug & Weapons Offenses

RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today DEVON LAMAR MARION, 33, of Hope Mills, North Carolina was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever to 168 months imprisonment.

On August 22, 2012, MARION pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than twenty-eight (28) grams of cocaine base (crack), a quantity of powder cocaine and a quantity of marijuana in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1); one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A); and one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924.

According to the investigation, MARION was a cocaine dealer in the Cumberland County, North Carolina area.  As a result of a search warrant executed at his home, MARION was foundto have drugs, a gun, and ammunition in Hope Mills, North Carolina.

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fayetteville Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette prosecuted the case.