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Press Release

Two Fayetteville Gang Members Sentenced for Gun Crimes

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced TEVON FAYSON  24, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to 180 months’ imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised released, and HASAN THOMAS 24, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to 130 months’ imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised released.

FAYSON and THOMAS were named in a five-count Indictment on October 18, 2018.  Count One charged Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Count Two charged Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Aiding and Abetting, Count Three charged Forcibly Assaulting an Officer or Employee of the United States and Aiding and Abetting, Count Four charged Robbing Personal Property belonging to the United States and Aiding and Abetting, and Count Five charged Brandishing, Carrying, and Using a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence and Aiding and Abetting.

On April 16, 2019, FAYSON pled guilty to Counts Two and Four, and on May 20, 2019, THOMAS pled guilty to Counts Two through Five.

On September 5, 2018, as part of an undercover operation, law enforcement arranged a meeting with FAYSON to purchase controlled substances and a firearm.  At the time of the controlled purchase, FAYSON was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm.  On September 7, 2018, law enforcement arranged another meeting with FAYSON to conduct a controlled purchase for controlled substances and firearms. FAYSON and THOMAS then traveled to Murchison Road in Fayetteville, North Carolina where FAYSON and THOMAS went to a residential area to complete the controlled purchase.  There, THOMAS, a convicted felon, provided FAYSON with a loaded firearm, which he brandished during the controlled purchase.  Audio and video surveillance captured the entire transaction.  According to law enforcement, both men are validated gang members.  

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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fayetteville Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Chad E. Rhoades prosecuted the case for the government.

Updated September 18, 2019

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods