Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 24 Years

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Late yesterday, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. sentenced Garlin Raymond Farris, 57, of Mathews, N.C. to 288 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Vincent C. Pallozzi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from 2016 through the summer of 2017, Farris trafficked significant amounts of methamphetamine throughout Western North Carolina. Court records show that Farris supervised a network of distributors, who sold his drugs throughout Mecklenburg, Watauga, Catawba, and Alexander Counties. Farris and his distributors made frequent trips to supply sources located in Atlanta, Georgia.  During those trips, Farris personally picked up at least 50 kilograms of methamphetamine and then brought the drugs back into North Carolina for distribution.

In April 2019, a federal jury convicted Farris of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.  He is currently in custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the ATF for handling the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Lindahl, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.