Lumberton Man Sentenced to Over Seven Years Following Multiple Firearms Arrests

NEW BERN — The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced Frederick Beverly, 41, of Lumberton to 87 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.  Beverly pled guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on January 29, 2019. 

On January 19, 2017, a team of law enforcement consisting of members of the Lumberton Police Department, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, and North Carolina State Highway Patrol successfully located BEVERLY’s vehicle in Robeson County and arrested BEVERLY.  Under BEVERLY’s seat, officers found a Hi-Point .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun. 

At sentencing, it was noted that BEVERLY was found in possession of firearms on two additional occasions following his January 2017 arrest.  On September 19, 2017, and again on March 16, 2018, officers of the Lumberton Police Department conducted traffic stops of vehicles which BEVERLY drove or in which he was a passenger and found BEVERLY to be in possession of handguns. 

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.   Since 2017, the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted 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.

That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  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 investigation of this case was conducted by the Lumberton Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and U.S. Marshals Service.  Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Pugh represented the government.