Wilmington Man Sentenced for Illegally Possessing a Stolen Firearm

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Wilmington man was sentenced today to 77 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.

Darrius Franklin Autry, 28, was named in a one-count Indictment filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina on December 3, 2019. The Indictment charged Possession of a Firearm by a Felon on May 15, 2019.  Autry pled guilty on March 11, 2020, to the sole count of the indictment.

Court documents indicate that, on May 15, 2019, officers with the Clayton North Carolina Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by Autry and two other individuals. Officers approached the vehicle and detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from within the vehicle.  Autry, who was seated in the back seat of the vehicle, told officers that he had a gun in his bag on the back seat. Officers subsequently seized Autry’s firearm that was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. Additionally, a weapon check on the firearm confirmed that it was stolen out of Durham, North Carolina.

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the Clayton Police Department (CPD) investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Smith  prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information are located 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-00477-D-1.

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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.