North Carolina man sentenced to 15 years in prison for firearm charge

Published 9:25 am Sunday, June 13, 2021

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A Lumberton man was sentenced June 8 to 180 months in prison for possessing a firearm while being a prohibited person, according to a press release from the Department of Justice, Eastern District of North Carolina. Ledger Lynn Hammonds Jr. pleaded guilty to a criminal information, which charged possession of a firearm by a felon, on January 20, 2021.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Hammonds, 44, was the subject of multiple investigations from 2013 through 2017, including several incidents where buffalo belonging to a relative were found deceased after being shot.

“On June 28, 2017, investigators executed a search warrant at Hammonds’ residence and recovered two firearms from the bedroom that Hammonds identified as his,” stated the release. “Due to an extensive criminal history that includes qualifying predicate convictions, Hammonds was determined to be an armed career criminal and thereby subject to an enhanced sentence under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).”

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G. Norman Acker III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Robeson County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Stephany prosecuted.

The 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,” stated the release. “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina implements the PSN Program through its Take Back North Carolina Initiative. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.”

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