Mario Marelle Scott, Heroin Trafficking, North Carolina 2019
New Bern, NC - In a major blow to the Halifax County heroin trade, a Princeville man was sentenced to 57 months in prison for his role in a multi-kilogram heroin trafficking organization. Mario Marelle Scott, 44, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin and a quantity of marijuana.
According to court documents, Scott was named in a Third Superseding Indictment filed on October 11, 2018. On November 13, 2019, Scott entered a plea of guilty.
The heroin trafficking organization, led by Terrence Cornelius Clyburn, aka 'Tee,' brought large amounts of heroin from New Jersey to Nash, Edgecombe, and Halifax Counties. The organization would then sell the heroin in those counties.
On March 13, 2017, agents conducted a traffic stop of Herbert Lamont Cherry and Tony Ray Reams as they returned from Paterson, New Jersey. A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 470 grams of heroin, which were packaged in 34,722 'bindles' or dosage units.
From 2015 to 2017, Mario Scott and Patrick Holiday distributed approximately 100 grams of heroin each month in North Carolina for the organization. In total, Mario Scott was responsible for trafficking almost 10 kilograms of heroin.
Other members of the organization were sentenced to prison time, including Terrence Clyburn, who received 147 months' imprisonment, Patrick Holiday, who received 96 months' imprisonment, and Tyshawn Reams, who received 88 months' imprisonment.
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 Nash County Sheriff’s Office, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Bladen County Sheriff’s Office, Spring Hope Police Department and the Tarboro Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott A. Lemmon prosecuted the case.
This case is part of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Take Back North Carolina Initiative, which 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.
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →