Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NEW BERN – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced DANIEL LEE WADE, JR., 24, of Greenville, North Carolina to 120 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

WADE was named in an Indictment filed on December 20, 2017. On March 12, 2018, WADE pleaded guilty to one-count of Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Felon.

On July 16, 2017, two females drove to talk to WADE at his apartment building in Greenville. One of the females and WADE were talking outside when WADE’S mother came out and began arguing with the female. As the argument escalated, WADE’ mother insisted that the female victim stay. The driver urged her friend to get in the vehicle, which she did. WADE’S mother then stepped in front of the vehicle in an apparent effort to block them in. As the vehicle was attempting to drive away, WADE began shooting at it.

After realizing her friend had been hit, the driver tried driving to the hospital, but was stopped less than a mile away due to a flat tire, and called 911. The Greenville Police Department (GPD) subsequently responded to a parking lot in Greenville, where the two females were located. The passenger had sustained a gunshot wound to the right hip area and was bleeding significantly. She was transported to the hospital for medical treatment. The victim provided a brief statement wherein she advised that WADE had struck her with a gun just prior to shooting her. Upon examination of the vehicle involved in the shooting, GPD observed a total of nine bullet holes, along with one that pierced the rear tire. Police searched the area in front of WADE’S apartment where they located 7 .40 caliber shell casings. A State arrest warrant was subsequently issued charging WADE with Assault With a Deadly Weapon With Intent to Kill or Inflict Serious Injury and Discharging a Firearm Into Occupied Property Inflicting Serious Injury.

On July 20, 2017, GPD located WADE sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle in Greenville. The driver of the vehicle told authorities that a firearm was inside the glove box. A .40 caliber pistol was found loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition. WADE was taken into custody on the outstanding warrant and was also charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. Ballistic testing determined that the firearm matched the casings recovered from the previously mentioned shooting on July 16, 2017.

ATF records revealed that driver was the registered owner of the gun; however, forensic analysis later confirmed that WADE’S DNA was present on the firearm and magazine.

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.

In support of PSN, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative. 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 violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, and the Greenville Police Department Gun Violence Reduction Unit conducted the criminal investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney James J. Kurosad handled the prosecution of this case for the government.

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