
WILMINGTON — Two Wilmington gang members have been sentenced to prison for heroin distribution by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District Judge James Dever.
Deandre Sweet, 27, has been sentenced to 105-months of imprisonment and 3-years of supervised release. Kyeric Sweet, 25, is sentenced to 90-months imprisonment and 3-years supervised release.
“On September 19, 2016, in a joint investigation, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force Gang Unit and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office Vice Division arranged an undercover purchase of heroin from Deandre Sweet. When Deandre Sweet arrived in a parking lot
in Wilmington to complete the sale, law enforcement stopped his rental car and found 500 bags of heroin during a search of the vehicle. Deandre Sweet was then arrested,” according to a press release.
The investigation showed Deandre Sweet imported the heroin from New York and New Jersey and a portion of the heroin was provided to gang members in Wilmington.
“In the same joint investigation, law enforcement conducted several undercover purchases from Kyeric Sweet between June and October 2017. On October 12, 2017, law enforcement arrested Kyeric Sweet in possession of a quantity of heroin and more than $2,500.
According to law enforcement, Kyeric Sweet is a validated gang member,” according to the release.
The cases are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Investigation called “Tooth Fairy,” and conducted by the FBI, Wilmington Police Department, and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
A separate federal ruling, also announced today, sent David Andrew Kirton Jr., 25, to prison for over ten years. The Wilmington man will spent 124 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Kirton pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of heroin, as well as a parole violation — conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin. An investigation by Wilmington’s Gang Unit and the FBI determined that Kirton and others were responsible for “significant amounts of heroin in the Wilmington area.”
Kirton’s sentence was the result of United State’s Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina’s “Take Back North Carolina” initiative, which pairs federal prosecutors with local law enforcement.