Tag: arrest
3 face drug charges following probe into suspected fentanyl death
Read the original article on the Sampson Independent website.
Three Clinton-area men are behind bars this afternoon, facing a multitude of drug charges related to an ongoing death investigation involving a 49-year-old woman believed to have died from a suspected fentanyl overdose.
Warrants were issued Tuesday for James Bradford, 38, 1200 Taylors Bridge Hwy., Clinton, Dustin Millen, 37, 1200 Taylors Bridget Hwy., Clinton, and Benjamin Rackley, 43, of 50 Quarterhorse Lane, Clinton, with Bradford being taken into custody Tuesday, Nov. 18, and Miller and Rackley jailed earlier today, Nov. 20.
Miller is facing charges of trafficking in Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), possession methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, sell or delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance, conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to Sampson County Sheriff’s reports, Bradford was charged with trafficking in a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rackley, reports show, was charged with maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, sell or deliver of a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The arrests come on the heels of a joint operation between the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, the Special Investigation Division, the Uniform Patrol Division, the Criminal Interdiction Team and the Animal Control unit.
Sampson County Sheriff’s Capt. Marcus Smith noted in a release that a series of three search warrants were issued as a result of that operation, followed by the arrest of the three individuals.
The warrants were obtained, he said, as part of an ongoing probe into the 49-year-old Clinton woman’s death on Nov. 18, one suspected to be tied to a fentanyl overdose.
Continue reading “3 face drug charges following probe into suspected fentanyl death”Toddlers revived with Narcan after fentanyl exposure; mother & boyfriend charged
Read the article and watch the video on the WRAL TV News website.
Raleigh police arrested mother Vinus Humphreys and her boyfriend Tyrone Bannerman on felony child abuse charges after her twin 22-month-old children were exposed to fentanyl inside their apartment.
Raleigh police arrested a mother and her boyfriend for child abuse after they said her twin toddlers were exposed to fentanyl inside their apartment.
Vinus Humphreys, 25, and Tyrone Bannerman, 28, are both facing two counts of felony child abuse. Raleigh police responded after 8 p.m. Monday to a home on Lake Hills Drive to a report of an unresponsive child.
EMS was already on scene providing medical aid to a 22-month-old child when, shortly after, the child’s twin also became unresponsive.
First responders administered Narcan to both children and took them to the hospital for further treatment. Their condition is considered stable and are expected to survive.
Narcan is is a medicine that can help people who are overdosing on an opioid.
Raleigh police found drugs, drug paraphernalia and a firearm inside the home, resulting in more charges for Bannerman, including:
- Trafficking opium/heroin
- Manufacturer of Schedule II controlled substance
- Misdemeanor possession of marijuana
The incident raised concerns for Barb Walsh, the executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina. The number of children younger than the age of 5 dying from fentanyl is on the rise. According to the North Carolina Office of the Medical Examiner, 29 children younger than 5 year old died from fentanyl between 2017 and 2022, with 72% of those deaths occurring in 2021 and 2022.
“It breaks my heart,” Walsh said. “I hate to use the word overdosing with a two-year-old because they didn’t know what they were taking.”
Walsh lost her 24-year-old daughter in 2021 to an unintentional fentanyl exposure when a toxic amount of it was in a water bottle. It’s why she’s so involved in advocating for change so other families don’t have to experience this pain.
“We’re making progress,” Walsh said. “That’s all we can hope for.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Josh Stein signed a new law creating new criminal offenses for exposing a child to a controlled substance.
Walsh said it goes much further than the laws in place now.
“They get child abuse or child neglect,” Walsh said. “The new law will be a felony even if they ingest it and are OK. That will save someone else’s life.”
Walsh said the new law is a lot more specific compared to the broader charge of child abuse. However, Humphreys and Bannerman won’t be charged under the new law. While Stein signed it into law in July, it won’t become effective until Dec. 1, which is exactly four weeks after Humphreys’ twins were exposed to fentanyl.
“People who endanger a child with a harmful substance like fentanyl should be held accountable for their actions,” Walsh said. “It will lead to lives being saved. That’s the goal. We want lives saved.”
Humphreys and Bannerman are due in court for their first appearances Wednesday afternoon in Wake County. Authorities are holding both of them without bond.
18 arrested in Carteret “Operation Find Out” drug crackdown
Read the original article on the Carteret County News-Times website.
CARTERET COUNTY — Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck announced the arrest of 18 suspects that are facing 146 felony charges in round one of “Operation Find Out.” According to Buck, the arrests were the result of a months-long operation by the sheriff’s office carried out through undercover purchases, with charges ranging from possession to trafficking.
Buck said the arrests have come with bond amounts as high as $10 million. At least 30 more suspects will be arrested as part of the operation in the coming weeks, he said during a Wednesday press conference.
“The message is clear – sell drugs in Carteret County and you’ll find out,” Buck said. ”You’ll find out that you’ll be arrested, taken to jail, and likely depending on your charges given a high bond to keep you in jail. You’ll be strictly prosecuted and many of you will ultimately find yourselves serving prison time.”
Buck said his team of detectives has done “tremendous work” in taking drug dealers off the streets. He said Carteret County District Attorney Matt Wareham and Assistant District Attorney David Spence have also been critical partners in their efforts.
“The work they have done over the years has made a major impact on our county and our work continues,” Buck said.
Wareham warned that the DA’s office will seek tough sentences for drug-related crimes.
“To those folks who sell drugs, who traffic in drugs, who live off others misery, we will prosecute you. We will seek tough enforcement, we will seek long prison sentences,” Wareham remarked.
Buck noted that Carteret County leads the state in prosecuting death by distribution cases.
“If you want to go to prison for killing someone over something as stupid, foolish and needless as selling dope, then keep on and find out,” Buck commented.
Buck noted that drug overdose deaths in Carteret County have fallen from 36 in 2020 to only five this year.
“We were having a terrible problem with Fentanyl for some time, and it seems like we’re not dealing with as much as we had been in the past,” he said.
For those addicted to drugs, Buck said the county is willing to offer help.
Brooke Lane, who heads up the Carteret County Post Overdose Response Team, echoed Buck’s remarks.
“There is help out there. You don’t have to end up in our county jail, you don’t have to end up part of this operation,” she commented.
Burlington man charged with death by distribution in fatal overdose case
Read the original article on the ABC45 News website.
BURLINGTON, N.C. — The Burlington Police Department has charged Christopher Jacob Tidwell, 29, with death by distribution following a six-month investigation into a fatal overdose. The incident occurred on March 26, 2025, in the 2500 block of South Church Street in Burlington, N.C. Tidwell, a Burlington resident, was already being held on pending trafficking fentanyl charges related to the same investigation. He has not received a bond for these charges.
The Burlington Police Department emphasized its commitment to holding fentanyl traffickers accountable and pursuing justice for overdose victims.
“Fentanyl continues to be a leading cause of fatal overdoses across the nation,” the department stated, adding that it will “continue to work aggressively to identify and prosecute those who distribute this deadly substance.”
North Carolina man charged in fatal drug overdose in Burlington
Read the original article on the WXII 12 website.
BURLINGTON, N.C. —
A 29-year-old man is charged with a fatal overdose that occurred in Burlington.
The Burlington Police Department said the death occurred in March in the area of South Church Street. The Burlington Police Department’s Opiate and Violent Crime Unit (OVCU) charged Christopher Jacob Tidwell, 29, of Burlington with Death by Distribution following the six-month investigation. Tidwell was being held on pending trafficking fentanyl charges that originated from the same investigation and additionally charged with death by distribution. He did not receive a bond.
Police, federal agents make rare fentanyl lab bust; 2 arrested
Read the original article and watch the video on the WSOCTV9 website.
STANLEY, N.C. — Gastonia Police Vice detectives, working with federal partners, said they made a rare bust after dismantling a major fentanyl pill manufacturing lab in Stanley.
The six-month undercover investigation led to the seizure of more than 10,000 fentanyl pills, two pill press machines, and the arrests of two men, Gastonia police said.
The operation, conducted on Thursday led authorities to a residence on Bennington Drive in Stanley.
Inside, investigators discovered a highly contaminated environment, necessitating the use of hazmat protection for evidence collection.
The investigation, known as operation Blue Hammer, led to the seizure of two portable pill press machines used to manufacture counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills.
It’s rare to seize a functioning lab, police said.
The estimated street value of the seized narcotics is between $300,000 and $400,000.
Two suspects, Phillip McGill, Jr., 29, and Tryiq Curry, 27, were arrested and are being held on a $1 million bond each.
Charges are pending as the investigation continues.
Gastonia Police Chief Trent Conard praised the operation, stating, “This case represents months of meticulous, coordinated work between our detectives and our federal and local partners. Fentanyl has taken too many lives and destroyed too many families.”
Gaston County District Attorney Travis Page commended the agencies involved, saying, “I want to commend the Gastonia Police Department and our federal partners for their unrelenting efforts to eradicate fentanyl from our community.”
The Gastonia Police Department extended special thanks to their federal partners, Stanley Police Department, Gaston County Police Department, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their vital assistance in this investigation.
Sheriff Ronnie Fields announces the arrest of one individual following an investigation into an overdose death in the West End area of Moore County
Newport woman sentenced for 2nd-degree murder
Read the original article on the WNCT TV9 website.
BEAUFORT, N.C. (WNCT) — Amanda Alice Blanton, 36, of Newport, pled guilty to 2nd degree murder in the death of Daniel Andrew Brisson, 46, also of Newport, and has been sentenced to 238-298 months in the Department of Adult Correction during the most recent term of Carteret County Criminal Superior Court.
The case was investigated by the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, and the lead investigator was Courtney Howell. Assistant District Attorney David L. Spence prosecuted the case and Resident Superior Court Judge Clint Rowe presided over the matter.
Newport woman pleads guilty to second-degree murder of Carteret Co. man
Read the original article on the Carteret County News Times website.
BEAUFORT – District Attorney Matt Wareham and Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck announced that Amanda Alice Blanton, age 36 of Newport, pled guilty to Second-Degree murder in the death of Daniel Andrew Brisson, age 46 of Newport, and was sentenced to 238-298 months in the Department of Adult Correction during the most recent term of Carteret County Criminal Superior Court.
The case was investigated by the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office and the lead investigator was Courtney Howell. Assistant District Attorney David L. Spence prosecuted the case and Resident Superior Court Judge Clint Rowe presided over the matter. Pending the disposition of co-defendant cases in this matter a more detailed release will be issued.
The body of Daniel Andrew Brisson was found on Harris Street on March 20, 2022. Following an investigation, the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office deputies have charged two more people with murder in connection with his death.
The two individuals are Joshua Kenneth Clauson, 20, and Jason Allen Porter, 42, of Newport. Police accuse the three individuals—Clauson, Porter, and a third person—of working together to intentionally inject Brisson with methamphetamine and fentanyl, and then dumping his body on Harris Street. Clauson is being held without bond at the Carteret County Jail. Porter was charged with murder but is already serving an active prison sentence for violating probation.