Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced today that a number of individuals are facing federal firearms and immigration charges under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative to protect our communities from perpetrators of violent crime, repel the invasion of illegal immigration and achieve total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).
Criminal indictments returned by the grand jury in Asheville charged the following defendants, among others:
Justin Allen Owenby, 27, of Asheville, was indicted for the unlawful possession of a firearm. Owenby is alleged to have unlawfully possessed a Glock 48, 9mm pistol, knowing he had prior felony convictions.
Gregory Lee Pettit, 51, of Candler, N.C., is charged with possession of a grenade, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Pettit is also charged with possession of a firearm by an unlawful user that is addicted to a controlled substance.
William Stanley Ellwood, 38, of Cherokee, N.C., is charged with possession of a firearm silencer, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. He is also charged with one count of receiving and possessing a silencer not identified by a serial number.
Rafael Martinez-Reano, 35, of Rutherfordton, N.C., is charged with illegal reentry into the United States. Martinez-Reano was previously deported from the United States two times: on December 31, 2018, and on April 13, 2018, at or near Hildago, Texas.
The charges in the indictments are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and Emergency Removal Operations, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the North Carolian Department of Public Safety Alcohol Law Enforcement, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cherokee Indian Police Department for their respective investigations that led to the charges.
The cases are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.
The indictments are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
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