CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Larry Dewayne Colvin, Jr., 51, of Lenoir, N.C., was sentenced today to 168
months in prison followed by five years of supervised release on drug and gun offenses,
announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Bennie Mims, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina
State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Sheriff Alan C. Jones, of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office,
Sheriff Len Hagaman, of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Brent Phelps of the Lenoir
Police Department, join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to court documents and court proceedings, on December 12, 2022, law enforcement
received information that Colvin was trafficking methamphetamine in Lenoir and surrounding
areas. During the investigation, law enforcement arranged controlled buys during which they
observed Colvin sell methamphetamine to a Confidential Informant (CI). Court records show that
on December 16, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Colvin’s residence in
Lenoir, where they seized methamphetamine and a firearm. A second firearm, an ammunition
magazine, drug trafficking paraphernalia, and more than $7,400 in cash drug proceeds were seized
from a vehicle parked on the property.
According to court records, a second search warrant was executed at another location where
Colvin was using a camper as a stash house for methamphetamine. From the camper, law
enforcement seized more methamphetamine, five handguns, two rifles, and a shotgun. During an
interview with Colvin, the defendant told law enforcement that he also hid methamphetamine at
his workplace. Law enforcement traveled to Colvin’s workplace where they seized over 4.5
kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as $30,000 in cash drug proceeds from Colvin’s vehicle.
On January 8, 2023, law enforcement in Lenoir responded to a call about Colvin communicating
threats to an individual. Law enforcement encountered Colvin at a gas station, where he admitted to
having a firearm in the vehicle. Law enforcement retrieved the firearm along with $2,500 in cash
drug proceeds.
On October 31, 2023, Colvin pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute
methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm by a felon. He is
currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons
upon designation of a federal facility.
The ATF, the SBI, the Caldwell County Sherriff’s Office, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office,
and the Lenoir Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) William
Wiseman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.