Robeson County Man Sentenced to More Than Nine Years for Gun Offense

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Robeson County man was sentenced today to 115 months in prison for one count of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

According to court documents, Roger Bryant Locklear, 30, and a friend on July 21, 2018, traveled from Lumberton to Raleigh to purchase drugs.  Locklear and his friend picked up the would-be supplier who gave them a sample of the drugs and instructed them to drive to a location on Beauty Ave.  The transaction turned into an attempted robbery and shots were fired by both Locklear and the would-be supplier.  Both men suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds, were treated at a local hospital, and ultimately arrested.

Locklear already had a substantial criminal record, having amassed 19 prior criminal convictions, including 6 felonies.  At least 3 of Locklear’s prior felony convictions involved violent firearm offenses, including two prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and a prior conviction for discharging a firearm into a vehicle that was occupied by four people.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Since 2017, the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.  For more information about this initiative click here:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/tbnc.

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Stephany is prosecuting the case.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Raleigh Police Department conducted the investigation of this case.