Jury Convicts Raleigh Man of Firearms and Narcotics Offenses

RALEIGH -- Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Jury Convicts Raleigh Man of Firearms and Narcotics Offenses

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal jury convicted a Raleigh man today on charges of possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine, possession of firearms by a convicted felon, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Keith Lamont Thompson, Jr., 27, possessed two firearms and over two ounces of powder cocaine. On July 6, 2019, officers with the Raleigh Police Department received information that Thompson was in possession of cocaine and multiple firearms at his apartmentRALEIGH --  in Raleigh, North Carolina. When Raleigh Police executed the search warrant, they learned that Thompson had ordered a female subject to hide his guns and drugs in her car. Officers searched the car and recovered 90 grams of cocaine and two firearms, including one that had been reported stolen. Further investigation revealed that Thompson was a convicted felon on active state probation for selling cocaine at the time of the July 6 search.

Thompson faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced in January 2022. Thompson also faces enhanced sentencing penalties as a career offender due to a conviction in 2014 for Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon and Second-Degree Kidnapping, and a conviction in 2018 for Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Cocaine. He faces a guideline range of 360 months to life imprisonment.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Raleigh Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aakash Singh prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.5:20-cr-00223-D-1.
Topic(s): 

Project Safe Neighborhoods
Drug Trafficking
Component(s): 
USAO - North Carolina, Eastern
Updated October 13, 2021