Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A Raleigh man was sentenced July 28, 2021 to 96 months in prison for possession of firearm by a convicted felon, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court documents and information presented in court, Wayne Dominic Bennett Jr., 25, also known as “Banga Loc,” was arrested after a search of his residence and a vehicle in which he was traveling, resulted in the seizure of a stolen .40 caliber handgun, less than a gram of fentanyl and a semi-automatic 7.62 caliber assault rifle loaded with a 30-round magazine.

“The investigation, led by agents and task force officers assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, revealed that Bennett, a validated member of the Eight Trey Gangster Crip street gang, had engaged in a video chat with another suspected gang member where he had displayed a firearm,” stated the release. “Agents were able to identify Bennett because of a visible facial tattoo of a Pyrex Cup. A review of social media and evidence from other sources also showed Bennett in possession of firearms. Bennett, who was on post-release supervision after serving a state prison sentence for selling cocaine, was ultimately caught after FBI agents and Raleigh Police Department Officers surveilled him at his listed probation address in Raleigh.”

According to the release, this effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. “OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach,” stated the release. “Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.”

G. Norman Acker III, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The FBI Raleigh Durham Safe Streets Task Force and the Raleigh Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Crosby prosecuted.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

RECENT HEADLINES:

North Carolina man convicted by federal jury of firearm charge

Four hikers injured by lightning at North Carolina’s Grandfather Mountain