Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A Craven County man was sentenced January 11, 2024 to 295 months in prison for possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of North Carolina. Xzavier Tylon Morris, 27, of Havelock, pleaded guilty to the charges on October 18, 2023.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Morris was stopped by deputies with the Craven County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) on February 1, 2022 to serve him with outstanding warrants for breaking and entering. “During the traffic stop, deputies observed Morris and his passenger throw a bag out the window of their vehicle,” stated the release. “The bag was recovered, and its contents were determined to be fentanyl.”

Morris was arrested for trafficking fentanyl and placed in the Craven County Detention Center.

“CCSO detectives began to monitor Morris’ outgoing jail calls and discovered that he was directing co-defendants Kimberly Smith and Kayakenee Oliver to move a safe containing drugs to Oliver’s residence in Havelock,” the release continued. “In these recorded calls, Morris, Smith, and Oliver conspired to package the drugs for re-sale to a third party in order to try to raise bond money for Morris.”

CCSO detectives secured a search warrant for Oliver’s residence and executed it just after midnight on February 3, 2022.  During the search, detectives located a safe containing 139 grams of cocaine, 62 grams of fentanyl, 617 grams of methamphetamine, two 9mm pistols and a digital scale.

“Morris, a validated 9-3 Bloods gang member, was later interviewed and admitted that the guns and firearms in the safe belonged to him and that he had been instructing Oliver and Smith how to package the drugs for sale,” stated the release.

Michael Easley Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Craven County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Webb prosecuted.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!