Man Is Sentenced To Over 9 Years For Drug Trafficking, Firearms Offenses

DOJ WNC --Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of North Carolina FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To More Than Nine Years For Drug Trafficking And Firearms Offenses

The Defendant Committed the Offenses While on Supervised Release for A Previous Federal Gun Conviction

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Louie Raymond Forney, 30, of Charlotte, was sentenced on Monday, November 8, 2021, to 118 months in prison for drug trafficking and firearms offenses, and for violating the terms of his supervised release, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. also ordered Forney to serve three years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

Vincent C. Pallozzi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) join Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer in making today’s announcement. 

According to filed court documents and the sentencing hearing, on June 26, 2020, CMPD officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle Forney was driving. Forney did not comply and instead attempted to evade the police by driving at high speed. Over the course of the pursuit, law enforcement observed Forney throwing a backpack out of the vehicle. A short while later, Forney stopped the vehicle and was subsequently arrested by CMPD officers while he attempted to flee on foot. Court records show that law enforcement recovered Forney’s backpack, which contained a mixture of fentanyl and heroin, and an assault rifle loaded with a high-capacity magazine. Court records also show that Forney was on federal supervised release for a previous federal firearms conviction when he committed the new offenses.

On June 10, 2021, Forney pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is currently in federal custody, and upon designation of a federal facility, he will be transferred into custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons. 

ATF and CMPD investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Taylor G. Stout of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

 
Topic(s): 
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses
Component(s): 
USAO - North Carolina, Western
Updated November 10, 2021