Yancey County Man Guilty of Trafficking Oxycodone

Yancey County -- September 20. 2024: Prosecutorial District 35 North Carolina Office Press Release:  On September 17th, 2024, 

David Brown Banks was found guilty by a Yancey County jury of Trafficking in Opium or Heroin, Maintaining a Dwelling Place for the Purpose of a Controlled Substance, and Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver a Schedule II Controlled.  

This case stems from an investigation into Mr. Banks based on community complaints that he was distributing drugs.  Detectives performed an investigation which corroborated those complaints and when interviewed Mr. Banks admitted to delivering controlled substances to individuals in the community.  Detectives ultimately located a trafficking amount of oxycodone in Mr. Banks’ residence which he had no lawful reason to possess.  

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Gary Gavenus sentenced Banks to a minimum of 8 years (96 months) to a maximum of 11 years 5 months (137 months) in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.  Judge Gavenus also ordered that upon Banks’ release from prison he will be on probation for an additional 30 months. 

I would like to thank the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office for their efforts in bringing drug traffickers to justice,” District Attorney Seth Banks said in a statement. “I also want to commend Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Ingle for his work in the prosecution of this case. My office remains committed to doing everything that we can to combat the distribution of these poisons in our community.”