Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that today in federal court, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced BRIAN LAMAR MARTIN, 22, of Fayetteville and KEYWONOUS ROGERS, 22, of Fayetteville to 120 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

 

MARTIN and ROGERS were named in a 2-count indictment filed on May 17, 2017 charging both defendants with possession of a firearm by felon and possession of a stolen firearm. On November 6, 2017, MARTIN pled guilty to one count of Possession of a Firearm by Felon. On December 4, 2017, ROGERS also pled guilty to one-count of Possession of a Firearm and by Felon.

 

On September 14, 2016, Robeson County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a residence in St. Pauls, North Carolina after receiving a call for service that the victims of the residence had been robbed. The victims advised that ROGERS and an unidentified male, later determined to be MARTIN, initially were invited into

the residence, however, once they were inside, MARTIN brandished a firearm while ROGERS stole eighteen guns from a safe in the residence. As they fled the scene, their vehicle overturned into a ditch, where one of the firearms was abandoned and recovered by law enforcement.

 

On September 21, 2016, ATF agents went to a residence in Fayetteville, North Carolina where ROGERS had been staying. The homeowner provided consent to search the residence, and the agents recovered two of the stolen firearms. ROGERS confessed that he had stolen several firearms on September 14, 2016.

 

On April 16, 2017, the victims identified the second perpetrator as MARTIN after seeing his picture on the news after he had been arrested for First Degree Murder. MARTIN subsequently confessed to pointing a firearm at the victims, and assisting in stealing the eighteen guns. Both MARTIN and ROGERS are convicted felons.

 

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.

 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office conducted the criminal investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney Peggah B. Wilson handled the prosecution of this case for the government.