Armed Gang Member Sentenced to 121 Months in Federal Prison

RALEIGH, N.C. – Mikal Huff, 19, of High Point, was sentenced on Friday May 14, to 121 months in prison for: 1) Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess With Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Heroin; 2) Distribution of a Quantity of Heroin and Aiding and Abetting; 3) Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.  On December 16, 2020, Huff pled guilty to these charges.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, on November 14, 2019, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit in an undercover capacity ordered a quantity of heroin from Shyreek Thatch.  Thatch and Huff left an apartment on Park Avenue in Wilmington, North Carolina and arrived at a meeting location.  Law enforcement attempted to arrest Thatch and Huff when they arrived.  Both fled on foot.  Thatch was arrested after he threw down the heroin.  Huff slipped near a park car and lost his shoe and a loaded .40 caliber handgun.  Huff was arrested shortly after thereafter.

The Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on the Park Avenue apartment following the arrest of Thatch and Huff.  Law enforcement found more than half a kilogram of a fentanyl/heroin mixture, almost two ounces of methamphetamine, and a quantity of crack cocaine, more than $4,000.00 (including money from a prior controlled purchase by law enforcement) and a loaded .40 caliber handgun.  Two other persons were arrested at the residence.

The investigation uncovered that Thatch and Huff had transported drugs from the High Point area for distribution in New Hanover County.  Huff, a validated gang member, was responsible for providing armed protection for the drugs while they were transported and sold. Huff was on probation for Discharging a Firearm into an Occupied Property at the time of his arrest.

Shyreek Thatch was sentenced previously for his role in this drug trafficking organization and received a prison sentence of 108 months in prison.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.  This OCDETF focuses on a Multi-State Drug Trafficking Organization and Gang Activity that has been responsible for the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine throughout the United States.

G. Norman Acker, III, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after the sentencing before U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III.  The Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wilmington Police Department, and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo  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. 7:20-cr-00105-D.