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A man from Oriental, North Carolina was sentenced August 27 to 292 months in prison for the distribution of controlled substances in Pamlico county, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina. Kenneth Franklin Hill Jr., 47, pleaded guilty to charges related to the distribution of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine on February 24, 2021.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Hill’s prosecution is the result of an investigation, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina in conjunction with local, state and federal authorities, into several drug traffickers operating in Pamlico and Craven counties. “After conducting several controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Hill, authorities arrested him on December 9, 2019,” stated the release. “That day, Hill led Pamlico County Sheriff’s Deputies on a high-speed chase, ramming patrol cars and running a school bus full of children off the road.  The chase ended before any serious injuries occurred when Deputies fired shots at Hill’s vehicle, disabling it.”

In total, investigators attributed over 2,000 grams of cocaine, 1,000 grams of methamphetamine and 1,200 grams of heroin to Hill, according to the release, which stated the drugs were distributed into the community from 2016 until Hill’s arrest on December 9, 2019.

The release stated that “a 292-month sentence ensures a message is sent to the citizens of Pamlico County: decades of planting seeds of poison in a community will end in a significant and detrimental harvest.”

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 James C. Dever III. Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations and the District Attorney’s Office for the Prosecutorial District the Prosecutorial District 4 assisted with the investigation of the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.D. Koesters prosecuted.

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