Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Juve Markie Lequan McAlpin, 24, of Asheville, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release today for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Michael Lamb of the Asheville Police Department, join U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making today’s announcement.
According to court records, on August 4, 2022, McAlpin was convicted in federal court of illegal firearm possession and sentenced to prison. Following his release he was placed under federal supervision.
On April 24, 2024, while serving his term of supervised release, McAlpin was arrested at a Shell gas station in Hendersonville, N.C. During the arrest, law enforcement searched the vehicle in which McAlpin was a passenger and recovered a loaded Taurus model 65 .357 caliber revolver with an obliterated serial number from the passenger-side floorboard. Officers also seized a distinctive black hoodie from the vehicle.
Court records show that McAlpin had been wearing that same hoodie on April 20, 2024, when he fired two rounds into a moving vehicle at an apartment complex in Asheville, striking a passenger in the leg. The victim was treated at the hospital for a gunshot wound.
McAlpin is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the ATF and the Asheville Police Department for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
This case is 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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).