New Bern, North Carolina (WNCN) — A U.S. District Court Judge has sentenced Dwayne Dantel-Thomas, 43, of Greenville, to 12 years in prison for drug trafficking from his home.
Thomas was arrested at a residence that was also home to his wife and nine minor children, according to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement.
According to court documents, Thomas was responsible for trafficking more than 400 grams of fentanyl in Greenville between April 2017 and May 2021.
According to U.S. Attorney General Michael Easley, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office received the first information in March 2020 that Thomas was selling fentanyl from his Old River Road residence.
Between January and April 2021, law enforcement made six undercover purchases from Thomas at his home while he was in contact with a “classified informant.”
A search was conducted by the Sheriff’s Department on April 8, 2021, and all children and parents were at home. A mixture of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl was found that day along with drug paraphernalia.
Besides the drugs, Easley said officers found six loaded firearms (two were stolen), packaging materials and a digital scale throughout the house and bathroom.
“Fentanyl and methamphetamine overdoses are causing too many deaths,” Easley said in Grant’s sentencing announcement. “Fentanyl and meth overdoses have caused too many deaths… This defendant recklessly stored fentanyl and meth in a home with underage children, and police said it was stored in the underage children’s bedrooms. We recovered a stolen gun that had been stolen.”
Grant pleaded guilty in June 2022 and was found guilty on Thursday. They include:
- Conspiracy to distribute and possess for the purpose of distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
- Possession for the purpose of distributing quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin.
- Possession of firearms to facilitate drug trafficking crimes.
