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A federal jury convicted a Mebane man April 13 on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the Department of Justice, Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Antonio Kortez Turner, 32, was indicted on November 20, 2019. The release stated that on March 27, 2019 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Raleigh Police Department (RPD) officers were conducting a security check of the parking lot at 500 W. Morgan Street, one block from the Ugly Monkey Bar.

“Officers located a black Honda Accord underneath a parking lot light and saw a firearm tucked between the passenger seat and the passenger door. After searching the vehicle registration, it was determined that the registered owner had the same address as Antonio Turner, a federally convicted felon who had previously been convicted in federal court for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and distribution of cocaine base (crack),” stated the release. “Officers also learned that Turner was on federal supervised release out of the Middle District of North Carolina for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and distribution of cocaine.

“Officers began surveillance on the parking lot and observed Turner enter the driver’s seat and another man enter the passenger seat of the Honda Accord. RPD Officers approached the vehicle and observed Turner waving a firearm with an extended magazine outside the driver’s side window,” the release continued. “Officers gave verbal commands for Turner to drop the firearm and put his hands in the air. Turner instead attempted to conceal the firearm beneath the passenger’s leg inside the Honda Accord. The passenger attempted to conceal the firearm under the passenger seat.”

Turner faces up to 120 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release when he is sentenced at a later date.

G. Norman Acker III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle accepted the verdict. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF) and the Raleigh Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Smith and David Fitzgerald prosecuted.

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