DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of North Carolina

For Immediate Release

Thursday, August 2, 2018
Andrew Murray
, United States Attorney
Contact: Lia Bantavani

Haywood Co. Woman Sentenced to 15 Years on Drug and Gun Charges

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced Brandy Marie Grogan, 36, of Waynesville, N.C. to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release on drug and gun charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by Wayne Dixie Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, Sheriff Greg Christopher of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief R. Scott Sutton of the Maggie Valley Police Department.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in early 2017, law enforcement learned that Grogan was selling and distributing methamphetamine in and around Haywood County. On January 17, 2017, Haywood County law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Grogan was driving. Inside her vehicle, law enforcement located a black bag which contained a large amount of methamphetamine. Elsewhere in the vehicle, law enforcement found other narcotics, including cocaine and marijuana, and $4,376 in cash. Officers also recovered from Grogan a .22 magnum caliber handgun. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Grogan’s residence and seized scales, drug paraphernalia, six handguns and two shotguns. A stolen handgun was later recovered from inside the glove box of Grogan’s vehicle. Grogan was charged with state criminal offenses in connection with this incident.

According to court records, on July 20, 2017, law enforcement stopped Grogan for driving above the speed limit in Haywood County. Law enforcement searched Grogan’s vehicle and located a black bag in the passenger side floorboard that contained methamphetamine and other narcotics, and a loaded Sig Sauer .40 caliber pistol. Deputies also located $2,097 in Grogan’s left front pants pocket.

In February 2018, Grogan pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. She is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of

Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The ATF, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, and the Maggie Valley Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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Charlotte Field Division