Fentanyl Distributor Pleads Guilty To Gun Offense in Federal Court

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte fentanyl distributor appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler today and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Demetrius Lamar Mattox, 39, will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending his sentencing hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Bennie Mims, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to plea documents and the plea hearing, over the course of an investigation into drug trafficking activities in Charlotte, law enforcement identified Mattox as a local fentanyl distributor. The investigation determined that Mattox sold fentanyl and firearms to a confidential source on multiple occasions between September and October 2023.

Mattox is currently in federal custody. The statutory maximum for the charged offense is a minimum of five years and a maximum of life in prison. A sentencing date has not been sent.

The ATF led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfredo De La Rosa of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.