WILMINGTON—On Tuesday 40-year-old Nathaniel McFarland of Wilmington was sentenced to 85 months in prison on charges of conspiring to distribute drugs, and possession of methamphetamine and cocaine with the intent to distribute, according to a Department of Justice press release.
During the trial, the prosecution alleged McFarland imported and distributed the drugs into Wilmington between July and August 2019. On August 6, 2019, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office became aware of information that suggested McFarland “was in the process of obtaining narcotics from a residence on Ovalberry Court in New Hanover County.”
According to the press release, detectives followed McFarland’s car and stopped him at the Gordon Road McDonald’s in Wilmington, where they intercepted him providing a woman with “78 grams of pure methamphetamine.” Some cocaine was found in the car, too.
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case and traced the methamphetamine to Greensboro. McFarland was prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office of the eastern district of North Carolina.
“This case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation ‘White Rabbit,’ focusing on a drug trafficking organization involved in the importation of heroin and methamphetamine into Eastern North Carolina,” according to the press release.
The prosecution said in court that McFarland’s charges were connected to those of another case, United States v. Rayleigh Carter. Carter also was linked to the house on Ovalberry Court, which was searched by sheriffs in August 2019, resulting in the arrests of McFarland, Carter and five others.
