GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court today, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard, sentenced Balal Theo Choudhary, a/k/a Paco Choudhary, 28, of Lumberton, to 140 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
On October 5, 2015, Choudhary pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine and a quantity of marijuana, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to the investigation, in December 2013, detectives with the Lumberton Police Department, Drug Enforcement Unit, initiated an investigation into the drug distribution activities of Choudhary. Leading up to December 2013, the police department received a number of complaints regarding Choudhary’s possession of firearms and the distribution of drugs from his residence in Lumberton.
Detectives conducted a controlled purchase of 0.1 gram of cocaine base from Choudhary in December, 2013. On December 13, 2013, detectives conducted a search of Choudhary’s residence and found 3 handguns, approximately 62 grams of marijuana, cocaine, and cocaine base, U.S. currency, scales, and drug paraphernalia.
The criminal investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Lumberton Police Department, and the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette handled the prosecution on behalf of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
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