Rufus Lamar Bowser, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, North Carolina 2022

A 30-year-old Wilmington man has been handed a significant prison sentence for a serious firearm offense. Rufus Lamar Bowser, 30, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for felon in possession of a firearm.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on January 19, 2022, when officers with the Wilmington Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Bowser was a passenger. During the stop, officers detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and asked the occupants to step out. When officers attempted to frisk Bowser for weapons, he tried to run from them and a brief struggle ensued, resulting in a loaded pistol falling from his pocket.

At the time of the offense, Bowser was on post-release supervision for his 2008 convictions for second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Additionally, he had outstanding warrants for his arrest for absconding from supervision and attempted first-degree burglary.

Bowser pleaded guilty to the charges on July 7, 2022. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Wilmington Police Department’s Gun Crime Task Force, and the Mobile Field Force Unit, with Special Assistant United States Attorney William Van Trigt prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a Department of Justice-led violent crime reduction effort. PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:22-cr-00035-D.