Subury and Elizabeth City Men Sentenced for Firearm Offenses

RALEIGH – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced today, that TERRY LAVELLE INGRAM, 36, of Elizabeth City, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle for possession of a firearm and ammunition by felon.  Chief Judge Boyle sentenced INGRAM to 120 months’ imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release. 

INGRAM’S co-defendant, CHRISTOPHER OMAR HINTON, 33, of Sunbury, was previously sentenced on August 23, 2018 by Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle for possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon.  Judge Boyle sentenced HINTON to 120 months’ imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.   

HINTON and INGRAM were charged in a two-count indictment on February 28, 2018.  HINTON pleaded guilty on June 26, 2018, and INGRAM pleaded guilty on April 30, 2018.

On April 7, 2017, HINTON robbed a Lucky City Sweepstakes in Raleigh, North Carolina. After entering the business he broke into the office, held up an employee at gunpoint, and stole about $8,000.  On April 23, 2017, HINTON and INGRAM robbed the same business, again at gunpoint. They ordered two employees into a bathroom and blocked the door so the victims could not escape. HINTON and INGRAM then stole $10,302 from the business.

The Raleigh Police Department later located HINTON and INGRAM staying at a hotel in Raleigh. Inside a vehicle registered to HINTON, officers found a stolen Hi-Point 9 mm pistol with an obliterated serial number, a Springfield Armory .40 caliber pistol, ammunition, an extended magazine, cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.

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.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting 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, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

In support of PSN, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative.  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 Raleigh Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney Erin Blondel handled the prosecution of this case for the government.