NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A 21-year-old from Wilmington pled guilty on Tuesday in New Hanover County Superior to four counts of possession of firearm by felon.
Jaheim Stukes was sentenced to a minimum of 59 months and a total of 107 months in prison. Stukes was found to have committed the crimes for the benefit of a criminal gang, an aggravating factor in the case.
The investigation began on July 25, 2023, when Stukes was stopped in a vehicle on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway with four fellow members of the street gang referred to as the Rolling 60’s. According to police testimony, the odor of marijuana was emanating from the vehicle, prompting a search where Wilmington Police Department officers found three handguns inside the vehicle.
On the phone one of the vehicle’s other occupants, detectives found a video of this Stukes handling a Glock 19 handgun that was recovered in the vehicle. Stukes is prohibited from possessing firearms based on a 2023 conviction for common law robbery.
Officers were then able to link Stukes to three additional firearm possession
offenses based on witness statements and surveillance video gathered in related investigations.
The first of these additional offenses occurred on June 23, 2023, when Stukes admitted to handling a .45 caliber handgun on the 2800 block of Penn Street. He said he was handling the gun for the juvenile after that juvenile exchanged gun fire with a man identified as Sam King. The minor was also a validated gang member of the Rolling 60’s street gang, according to the DA’s office.
Surveillance footage also emerged from July 4, 2023, that shows this defendant handling a handgun at the Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wilmington that was
subsequently purchased the same day by a friend of Stukes named Ladaisha Henry.
The final offense occurred when a cell phone that was possessed by another Rolling 60’s gang member contained a video of Stukes holding a Glock handgun on July 18, 2023.
Tips or comments? Email PCD at info@portcitydaily.com
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
