Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
RALEIGH, N.C. – A Rocky Mount man was sentenced to 240 months in prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and bribery of a public official. On October 8, 2024, Quatavious Arnez Hunter, age 32, pled guilty to the charges.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, on September 16, 2021, officers of the Rocky Mount Police Department (RMPD) conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in which Hunter was a passenger. Hunter was wearing a ski mask covering his entire face. Searches of Hunter’s person revealed a loaded, 9mm handgun on his hip, over $1,500 in cash, 45 bindles of heroin, one plastic bag containing approximately 5.7 grams of crack cocaine and two bags weighing a total of approximately 7.6 grams of powder cocaine.
In March 2023, while Hunter’s case was pending in federal court, he was held in the Bladen County Jail (BCJ). During this time, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began investigating claims that Hunter and another inmate were orchestrating payments to a BCJ detention officer in exchange for drugs smuggled into the jail in resealed potato chip bags. Hunter’s cell was searched and was found to contain contraband, including synthetic marijuana and a lighter. The investigation further revealed that Hunter’s girlfriend made Cash App payments to a BCJ detention officer. Upon the officer’s arrest, he admitted to making multiple deliveries of contraband to Hunter in exchange for payments via Cash App.
Daniel P. Bubar, 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. The Rocky Mount Police Department and Nash County Sheriff’s Office investigated the drug and gun offenses and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Bladen County Sheriff’s Office investigated the contraband smuggling case. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah E. Nokes and Ashley H. Foxx prosecuted the cases.
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 Nos. 5:21-CR-407-1D and 7:23-CR-101-4D.
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