Devin Antonio Manuel, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, North Carolina 2019

Bladenboro, North Carolina, ran red with crime on April 5, 2018, when Bloods gang member Devin Antonio Manuel led a violent daytime burglary that left a family traumatized and a trail of stolen guns and scorched heirlooms. Manuel, 25 at the time, and three accomplices—Jaden Davis, Charles Smith, and a juvenile male—smashed into a residence, ransacked the home, and hauled away a safe loaded with five firearms, electronics, and personal treasures. They backed a car into the porch, leaving behind blue paint as a calling card, then fled to an isolated field where they cracked open the safe and ignited a fire that devoured family keepsakes.

Law enforcement didn’t catch a break until the thieves got greedy. Later that day, a pair of men walked into a pawn shop in Elizabethtown with two engraved class rings from the burglary. The owner, recognizing the victims’ names etched into the metal, refused the sale and immediately tipped off both the family and police. He identified Devin Antonio Manuel as one of the men—confirming his link to the Bloods gang and sealing his place in the investigation. That same day, an anonymous tip led officers to a Bladenboro apartment complex parking lot, where Jaden Davis and the juvenile stood near a car trunk inspecting a stolen Ruger .22 caliber rifle. Davis wore a watch lifted from the victims’ home.

The juvenile cracked first, confessing to the burglary and naming Manuel and Charles Smith as co-conspirators. Forensic investigators matched latent fingerprints on the abandoned gun safe to Devin Antonio Manuel. GPS data from Charles Smith’s vehicle placed it at the crime scene, and damage to his car—plus matching blue paint residue—corroborated the collision with the victims’ porch. Smith had already been sentenced to 21 months on August 27, 2019; Davis followed with a 13-month sentence on October 8, 2019. Manuel, however, faced steeper consequences as a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan handed down the hammer on Monday, sentencing Devin Antonio Manuel to 120 months in federal prison. The charge: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a federal offense carrying mandatory time under the Armed Career Criminal Act. No plea deals, no leniency—just hard steel and longer shadows in a federal penitentiary. The sentence marks a key win for the Take Back North Carolina Initiative, a federal crackdown on violent crime hotspots across the Eastern District.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh and investigated by the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office. It falls under the umbrella of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the DOJ’s national push to dismantle violent crime networks through coordinated federal, state, and local efforts. Since 2017, PSN has prioritized targeting repeat offenders and gang-affiliated criminals who fuel cycles of violence in small towns like Bladenboro.

U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced the sentencing, underscoring the federal government’s commitment to backing local law enforcement. “When armed gangs hit homes in broad daylight, they don’t just steal property—they steal safety, peace, and trust,” Higdon said. “This sentence sends a message: we’re watching, we’re tracking, and we will put you away.” Court records, including Case No. 7:18-cr-0196-FL, are available via PACER and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina’s public docket.

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