Raleigh Man Convicted of Possessing a Firearm as a Convicted Felon

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal jury convicted a Raleigh man yesterday on charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Romar Leshawn Bartee, Jr., 25, Raleigh Police Department (RPD) Officers stopped at the Sheetz gas station located at 5200 New Bern Ave., on April 15, 2020, and while there, officers noticed a black Dodge Charger with heavily tinted windows cut across multiple lanes of traffic and enter into the Sheetz gas station. The vehicle's front windshield was heavily tinted to the point officers could not see inside the vehicle. At that point, officers initiated a traffic stop on the Charger for a window tint violation.

The Charger parked at a gas pump and as soon as the Charger parked,  an Officer noticed that the front passenger exited the vehicle and quickly walk away. The Officer noticed that this individual was carrying a red bag and wearing a green sweatshirt. He watched this individual walk around the left side of the Sheetz building. The Officer then notified check in units of the passenger's description and direction of travel.

Additional responding officers located the passenger, identified as Romar Bartee, Jr., close by at 1030 Rogers Lane. When located, Bartee had taken off the sweatshirt the Officer had seen him wearing when he exited the Charger. Bartee was no longer carrying the red bag that he fled Sheetz with. Officers combed the areas and quickly located the red bag inside of a trash can on the left side of the Sheetz Gas Station building. Inside Bartee’s red bag was 153 pills with Xanax stamped on each one, miscellaneous clothing, and a loaded Glock Model 17, 9mm pistol with 17-9mm rounds of ammunition

Video surveillance footage from the Sheetz was obtained by officers on scene that showed Bartee exiting the Dodge Charger carrying the red bag.

Bartee faces 120 months in prison when sentenced in October 2021.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The Raleigh Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF) investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Smith 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.5:20-cr-00495-D.