United States Drug Enforcement Administration

RALEIGH, N.C. - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court today, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, sentenced Dupree Turner, 29, of Wilson, North Carolina, to a total of 130 months in prison and five years of supervised released for three counts of distribution of heroin, one count of possession of firearm by a felon and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Turner previously pleaded guilty to these charges on November 5, 2015.

Between January 22, 2015, and April 16, 2016, the Greenville Regional Drug Task Force and Wilson Police Department used informants to buy a total of 800 bags of heroin from Turner during five controlled purchases in Greenville and Wilson. During the controlled purchase on April 16, 2015, Turner possessed and brandished a handgun. Turner was arrested in Greenville following the last purchase. Agents located two additional handguns during a search of Turner’s residence in Wilson. Turner was prohibited from possessing firearms due to his 2007 convictions in New Jersey for robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Greenville Regional Drug Task Force, the Wilson Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement (DEA). The federal prosecution was handled by Special Assistant United States Attorney Glenn Perry. Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Pitt County District Attorney Kimberly Robb has assigned Mr. Perry to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Mr. Perry’s assignment to the United States Attorney’s Office has been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.

The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justthinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.