Federal jury convicts North Carolina man of firearm charge

Published 9:09 am Saturday, July 17, 2021

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A federal jury convicted a Raleigh man July 14 on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Raleigh Police Department (RPD) officers stopped at the Sheetz gas station located at 5200 New Bern Ave. on April 15, 2020. While there, officers noticed a black Dodge Charger with heavily tinted windows cut across multiple lanes of traffic and enter into the gas station property. “The vehicle’s front windshield was heavily tinted to the point officers could not see inside the vehicle. At that point, officers initiated a traffic stop on the Charger for a window tint violation,” stated the release.

The Charger parked at a gas pump and an officer noticed that the front passenger exited the vehicle and quickly walk away, according to the release. “The Officer noticed that this individual was carrying a red bag and wearing a green sweatshirt,” stated the release. “He watched this individual walk around the left side of the Sheetz building. The Officer then notified check in units of the passenger’s description and direction of travel.”

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Additional responding officers located the passenger, identified as Romar Leshawn Bartee Jr., 25, close by at 1030 Rogers Lane. When located, Bartee had taken off the sweatshirt the officer had seen him wearing when he exited the Charger, according to the release.

“Bartee was no longer carrying the red bag that he fled Sheetz with,” stated the release. “Officers combed the areas and quickly located the red bag inside of a trash can on the left side of the Sheetz Gas Station building. Inside Bartee’s red bag was 153 pills with Xanax stamped on each one, miscellaneous clothing, and a loaded Glock Model 17, 9mm pistol with 17-9mm rounds of ammunition.”

Video surveillance footage from the Sheetz location was obtained by officers on scene that showed Bartee exiting the Dodge Charger carrying the red bag, stated the release.

Bartee faces 120 months in prison when sentenced in October 2021.

G. Norman Acker III, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The Raleigh Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Smith prosecuted.

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