Asheville Man Is Sentenced To Prison For Federal Firearms Offense

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Danquon Shermaine Brown, 32, of Asheville, to 33 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a firearms offense, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina

Bennie Mims, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Carla Neadeau of the Cherokee Indian Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making the announcement.

According to court documents filed in the case and the sentencing hearing, in 2014, Brown was convicted in federal court in the Western District of North Carolina of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Brown’s federal conviction prohibits him from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Court records show that in February 2022, officers with the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) received information that Brown, who at the time was staying at Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel and Casino in Cherokee, had outstanding arrest warrants in Buncombe County. On February 16, 2022, Brown checked out of the hotel. On the same day, CIPD officers arrested Brown after they stopped his vehicle near Highway 19 in Cherokee. Over the course of the arrest, CIPD officers recovered from Brown a handgun which was loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition.

On March 1, 2023, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the Cherokee Indian Police Department and the ATF for their assistance with the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.