Rocky Mount Gang Member Sentenced to 156 Months After Robbing Delivery Driver at Gunpoint

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Rocky Mount man was sentenced yesterday to 156 months in prison for interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

According to court documents, on the night of January 1, 2019, Emmanuel Marquise Morris, 25, ordered pizza from a Dominos in Rocky Mount.  When the delivery driver arrived with the pizza, Morris called him to the back yard where Morris waited with a loaded revolver.  After demanding the delivery driver empty his pockets and lay on the ground, Morris stole the delivery driver’s cash, wallet, and car. 

Authorities eventually arrested Morris on January 4, 2019 in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Greensboro Police found Morris parked in a stolen car with a stolen revolver under the passenger seat.  In May of 2019, Morris pled guilty in Guilford County Superior Court to possession of a firearm by a felon.  Morris served a ten-month sentence for this conviction before pleading guilty to his Federal charges.

In the weeks leading up to the New Year’s Day incident, Morris took part in several robberies around the Rocky Mount and Nashville area.  On December 16, 2019, Morris robbed the Four Points General Store in Nashville, North Carolina.  A week later, Morris, a validated member of the Crips street gang, participated in two robberies with other validated gang members.  These charges remain pending in Nash County.

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Rocky Mount Police Department, Nash County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.D. Koesters  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. 5:19-CR-00324-BO.

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