RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A member of the Bloods gangs has been sentenced in a drug trafficking case.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Michael Easley announced that Raymond Lawrence Brown has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for leading a violent Bloods gang that dealt cocaine and crack. Easley said Brown terrorized a southern Raleigh community through violence and intimidation.
Brown pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute on May 11, 2021.
“This conviction and sentence ensure that a violent gang leader will remain in federal prison for the next two decades,” said Easley. “We will continue to partner with law enforcement at every level to identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals driving the violence in our community.”
Brown received an enhancement in sentencing after the court found he was involved in at least one murder. Easley’s office said Brown’s role as a leader in the gang and his maintaining of a house for distributing drugs, using guns, and using violence also contributed to the enhancement of his sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, law enforcement said a house that Brown used for drug dealing was robbed in 2019. In retaliation, prosecutors said Brown ordered a hit on one of the suspected robbers. Police say on June 10, 2019, the individual Brown ordered to be killed was found shot to death. Prosecutors say the incident was just one example of Brown’s use of directed violence and intimidation highlighted at the sentencing hearing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the investigation into Brown showed he coordinated, directed, or supplied drug deals carried out by subordinates in the gang. Law enforcement also documented Brown selling a gun and his ordering others to commit acts of violence on his behalf, all in furtherance of the gang and drug dealing.
Easley made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Raleigh Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons prosecuted the case.
