Two Men Are Sentenced To Prison For Selling Stolen Firearms

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Acting U.S. Attorney William T. Stetzer announced that Gevon Marquise King and Michael Dwane Williams were sentenced to prison late yesterday for selling stolen firearms and related firearm offenses. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced King, 35, of Hickory, N.C., to 144 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered Williams, 22, also of Hickory, to serve 72 months in prison and two years under court supervision.

According to filed court documents and information presented at the sentencing hearings, from November 2019 to July 2020, King and Williams engaged in the unlawful sale of numerous firearms, some of which were stolen. Court records show that, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that Williams was responsible for several vehicle break-ins in Burke County, from which firearms were stolen. King conspired with Williams to sell the stolen firearms, which included a short barrel rifle, a machine gun, a semi-automatic shotgun, several semi-automatic rifles, and several handguns.

In November 2020, both King and Williams pleaded guilty to dealing in firearms without a license. King also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, and Williams pleaded guilty to possession and sale of stolen firearm.

King is currently in federal custody. Williams has been released on bond and will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In making today’s announcement Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their investigation of the case, and thanked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Hickory Police Department, the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, and the Burke County Sheriff’s Office for their invaluable assistance.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.