Raleigh Man Sentenced to 33 Months for Illegally Possessing a Firearm

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that yesterday in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced SAMUELLE BRESHAUN CORBETT 28, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 32 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised released.

On September 6, 2018, CORBETT was named in a one-count Indictment charging him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On February 25, 2019, CORBETT pled guilty to the sole count.  

On June 20, 2018, an officer with the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) approached a vehicle that was parked in the Ugly Monkey Bar’s parking lot.  As the officer approached, he observed the vehicle’s front passenger, CORBETT, reach toward the floorboard. The officer also detected an odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and observed a .22 caliber revolver at CORBETT’S feet. CORBETT was removed from the vehicle and placed into custody. The revolver was loaded with 3 rounds of ammunition.

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 in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Raleigh Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney Daniel W. Smith prosecuted the case for the government.