Two Virginia Suspects Captured in Greensboro, North Carolina by U.S. Marshals

Greensboro, NC – Yesterday morning at 11:00 AM, Akim Tyrell Smith, a 22 year old black male and James Elliott Murphy, a 22 year old black male were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Joint Fugitive Task Force (JFTF) and the Greensboro Police Department (GPD). Smith was wanted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from the Western District of Virginia for Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. Murphy was wanted by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Lynchburg, Virginia for strangulation of his girlfriend.

U.S. Marshals in the Western District of Virginia developed information indicating that Smith and Murphy were residing together in the Greensboro area. Additional investigation by the JFTF led them to an apartment building located at 504 Greenbriar Road. Members of the JFTF and a GPD K9 Officer surrounded the building and entry was made into the apartment where Smith and Murphy were taken into custody without incident.

Smith was taken to the Winston-Salem Federal Courthouse for his Initial Appearance in front of Magistrate Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake yesterday afternoon. Murphy was booked into Guilford County Detention Center and held on a $150,000 bond.

The U.S. Marshals Joint Fugitive Task Force for the Middle District of North Carolina is comprised of investigators from the U.S. Marshals Service, Chapel Hill Police Department, Durham Police Department, Greensboro Police Department, High Point Police Department, Winston-Salem Police Department, Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Department of Community Corrections – Probation & Parole.