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Charlotte – On March 10, 2022, Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina,
announced today that U.S. District JudgeRobert J. Conrad Jr. handed down significant prison sentences to two persons convicted of narcotics trafficking in Gaston County.
For conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, and possession of a firearm by a felon, Corey Dusean Edwards, 45, of Gastonia, N.C., was sentenced to 188 months in prison and five years of supervised release. According to court documents and hearings in this case, Edwards was involved in the trafficking of more than a kilogram of crack cocaine in Gaston County from 2018 to 2020. Law officials seized cocaine and other contraband, as well as a stolen weapon and $1,723 in cash, from Edwards' home during the investigation. Edwards was sentenced as a career offender because of his several past drug convictions.
Caleb O'Brian Kendrick, 31, of Gastonia, was sentenced to 188 months in prison and five years of supervised release in a separate case for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, as well as two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm by a felon. According to court filings filed in this case, Kendrick was involved in narcotics trafficking in Gaston County from 2016 to 2019. During the inquiry, police officials discovered narcotics and firearms at Kendrick's home, as well as evidence of his involvement with the Bloods gang. Due to his earlier convictions for drug trafficking, armed robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and assault with a lethal weapon with intent to kill inflicting significant injury, the Court increased Kendrick's sentence at today's hearing.
More than 70 people have been convicted as a result of investigations led by one of the Western District of North Carolina's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which have resulted in the seizure of more than 1,625 kilograms of crack cocaine, 561 kilograms of cocaine, more than 1,430 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 210 kilograms of heroin, more than 28 kilograms of fentanyl, 89 firearms, and more than $290,000.
OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations. The OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF for more information.
U.S. Attorney King praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gastonia Police Department for their investigative work in making today's statement.
The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven Kaufman of the United States Attorney's Office in Charlotte.
Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington
