Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

RALEIGH — The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced XAVIER DOMINIQUE GARRIS, 26, of Hope Mills to 162 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release. On April 8, 2019, GARRIS pled guilty to one count each of felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

On May 20, 2017, Fayetteville Police Department officers stopped GARRIS for speeding on Ireland Road in Fayetteville. GARRIS, stepped out of the vehicle, briefly spoke with police, and then ran to a nearby wooded area. Officers pursued and caught GARRIS. They searched him and found a digital scale, roughly three ounces of marijuana, and a loaded .40 caliber handgun. The handgun had been reported stolen. GARRIS’s state criminal record includes six prior felony drug convictions and three prior firearm-related felony convictions.

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. Since 2017 the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted 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.

This case is also part of the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violence crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement. For more information about this initiative please click https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/tbnc.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Fayetteville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Pugh represented the government.

# # #

News releases are available on the U.S. Attorney’s webpage located at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_EDNC.