Federal Jury Convicts Repeat Offender Of Drug Trafficking And Firearms Charges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte federal jury has convicted Josue Aldana, 28, of Charlotte, of two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney presided over the two-day trial, which ended today.

According to filed court documents and evidence presented at trial, on the evening of April 19, 2021, officers with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) responded to a service call that an individual, later identified as Aldana, was causing a domestic disturbance. Trial evidence established that officers responding to the service call recovered from Aldana’s vehicle his cell phone, a pistol, and ammunition for a different caliber firearm. Aldana is a convicted felon, and he is not permitted to possess firearms.

According to evidence presented at trial, two days later, on April 21, 2021, investigators searched Aldana’s residence in Matthews, N.C. Investigators found a revolver in Aldana’s bedroom, which was loaded with the same type of ammunition found in Aldana’s vehicle two days prior. Law enforcement identified Aldana’s fingerprint on the revolver. Investigators also seized nearly a quarter kilogram of marijuana and a digital scale inside a backpack located in Aldana’s bedroom.  On Aldana’s cell phone, investigators found photographs of marijuana being weighed on digital scales for distribution.

According to statements made in court during a related proceeding in August 2021, when the aforementioned events occurred, Aldana was on federal supervised release after serving a prison sentence for murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit the same from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Whitney revoked Aldana’s supervised release based on the above-described events and ordered Aldana serve three years in federal prison.

Aldana now faces a separate sentencing hearing for today’s trial convictions, which will be set at a later date. Aldana currently remains in custody.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended CMPD, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Probation Office for their investigation of the case, and thanked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor G. Stout, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte, is prosecuting the case.