Wilmington Gang Member Sentenced to More than 12 Years Following ATF Stash House Robbery Sting Operation

RALEIGH — The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced Joseph Anthony Vaught, 29, of Wilmington to 150 months’ imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.  

On January 22, 2019, VAUGHT pled guilty to charges of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime 

VAUGHT was the last of six men to be sentenced in this case.  His five co-defendants have previously received sentences ranging from 60 to 240 months:

• On May 23, 2018, Eugene Telphia Grady, Jr., was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment and 6 years of supervised release, following his guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. 
• On October 3, 2018, James Flowers was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release, following a guilty plea to conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess cocaine and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; manufacture, distribution, and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; and using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
• Also on October 3, 2018, Sylvester Lorenzo Hooper, Jr., was sentenced to 204 months’ imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release, following his guilty plea to conspiring to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and distribution of a quantity of crack cocaine. 
• On February 20, 2019, Victor Dorm was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release following his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; distribution of heroin; manufacture, distribution, and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base; using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 
• On April 16, 2018, Rufus Lamar Parker was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release, following a guilty plea to conspiring to distribute cocaine and six counts of distributing cocaine.

These convictions are the result of a long-term undercover operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and officers of the Wilmington Police Department.   Beginning in December 2016 and continuing until the federal indictment in August of 2017, ATF used a confidential informant, undercover agents, and a wired undercover apartment to investigate gang and drug activity in the Wilmington, North Carolina area.  Victor Dorm, a principal target of the investigation, was a leader of a subset of the Bloods street gang.  VAUGHT was a lower-ranking member of the gang.    

During the course of the investigation, a confidential informant and undercover agents conducted roughly three-dozen controlled purchases of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, counterfeit currency, and multiple firearms from the six co-defendants and other targets.  At the same time, ATF received reports that Dorm and other members of his gang were also conducting violent robberies.   In response, ATF devised a scenario where Dorm and his crew were provided the opportunity to rob a fictitious cocaine stash house.  Dorm was told that a Mexican drug cartel operated the stash house, where two armed men guarded eight to ten kilograms of cocaine.  Dorm confirmed that his crew, including VAUGHT, was ready to commit the robbery.

On August 29, 2017, VAUGHT and co-defendant Sylvester Hooper met with the confidential informant to carry out the plan.  The three men rode to a predetermined location to meet with the undercover agents that supposedly had access to the stash house.  Both VAUGHT and Hooper were armed with handguns and reaffirmed that they wanted to rob the stash house.  From there, Vaught and Hooper followed the undercover agents to a separate location, where they believed the agents would obtain additional cocaine to be delivered to the stash house.  Instead, a team of federal agents executed a take-down, arresting the two men and seizing their firearms. 

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 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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Wilmington Police Department, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, and the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jake D. Pugh represented the government.