United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

07/07/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/07/2025 13:45

Virginia Man Convicted of Armed Drug Trafficking by Federal Jury

Press Release

Virginia Man Convicted of Armed Drug Trafficking by Federal Jury

Monday, July 7, 2025
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For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina
Katie Holcomb Vollmer, Public Affairs Officer

RALEIGH, N.C. - A federal jury found a man from Lynchburg, Virginia, guilty of multiple charges, including possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (ANPP). He was also convicted of possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Derrick O'Brian Hamlett, 32, was a front seat passenger in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation in Vance County on October 26, 2022. A Vance County detective noticed an odor of marijuana coming from the car and a marijuana grinder in between the front passenger seat and the center console. A search of the vehicle revealed a backpack with a locked section. Hamlett gave law enforcement the code to unlock the section of the backpack. It contained a stolen pistol, a loaded extended magazine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and over 100 dosage units of fentanyl, heroin, and ANPP. It also contained Hamlett's wallet with his Virginia identification card, social security card, and other documents with his information. Hamlett is a convicted felon and therefore cannot legally possess a firearm.

Hamlett faces a mandatory minimum of five years of imprisonment and a statutory maximum of life imprisonment when sentenced on a later date.

Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The Vance County Sheriff's Office investigated the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Sampson County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jermaine Sellers and David Beraka prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.5:24-cr-00043-D-KS.

Updated July 7, 2025
Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses
Components
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
USAO - North Carolina, Eastern
United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina published this content on July 07, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on July 07, 2025 at 19:45 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io