Duplin County Methamphetamine Trafficker Receives More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, on June 30, 2020, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents working with Duplin County Narcotics Detectives received information that Hyland and Ashely Shakelford were traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to pick up two pounds of methamphetamine and then would be returning to Eastern North Carolina.   On July 1, 2020, DEA agents assisted by Sampson County Sheriff’s Office Detectives stopped a car driven by Shakelford with Hyland as the sole passenger.  The car was stopped in the Newton Grove area returning from Georgia.  Detectives had a K-9 conduct a sniff of the car and the K-9 detected the odor of narcotics.  Detectives searched the car and found more than a kilogram and half of methamphetamine.  During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that between May and June 2020, Hyland made approximately 8 trips to Georgia to pick up methamphetamine.  Hyland had distributed methamphetamine to Virginia and the Eastern District of North Carolina.  Hyland was responsible for distributing approximately 6 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Shakelford was previously sentenced in federal court for her role and received 90 months imprisonment.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Craven, Duplin, New Hanover and Sampson County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Mount Olive Police Department investigated the case and 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-00130-M-1.