Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw
Date: 08-24-2019
Case Style:
United States of America v. Nicholas Garfield Baker
Case Number: 5:18-cr-00470-BO
Judge: Terrence W. Boyle
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (Wake County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Daniel W. Smith
Defendant's Attorney:
If you need a criminal defense lawyer in Scranton, call: 888-354-4529 and we will help you.
Description:
Raleigh, NC - Man Sentenced to 81 Months for Illegally Possessing a Firearm and Possessing With Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Marijuana and Fentanyl
NICHOLAS GARFIELD BAKER, 29, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was sentence to 81 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised released.
BAKER was named in a three-count Indictment on November 27, 2018. Count One charged Possession with Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Marijuana and Fentanyl; Count Two charged Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; and Count Three charged Possession of a Firearm by a Felon.
On May 10, 2019, BAKER pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana and fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
On June 15, 2018, Raleigh Police Department officers encountered NICHOLAS GARFIELD BAKER standing next to a vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel on Plainview Drive in Raleigh. When BAKER noticed the marked patrol vehicle, he began to walk away. Officers made contact with BAKER as he threw an item, later identified as a bag containing 2.79 grams of marijuana, into a trash can. A search of the vehicle that BAKER was standing next to resulted in the recovery of the following from the center console: a jar containing 15.57 grams of marijuana; a loaded .38 caliber revolver; 6.66 grams of fentanyl; plastic bags; a digital scale; and traffic tickets belonging to BAKER.
At sentencing the Court found BAKER responsible for the possessing with the intent to distribute 18.36 grams of marijuana and 6.6 grams of fentanyl. BAKER also possessed a firearm in connection with his drug trafficking activities.
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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Since 2017 the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Raleigh Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Distribution of a quantity of marijuana and fentanyl
(1)
Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
(2)
Possession of firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon
(3)
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 81 months in prison.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: