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Michael Delinda Stansbury, a 47-year-old Littleton man, was sentenced today in Greenville to six years in federal prison on counts related to cocaine trafficking.

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United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. said in a statement Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard also ordered Stansbury to five years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.

Stansbury was named in a seven-count Indictment on July 10 charging him with two counts each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.  

On October 15 he pleaded guilty to three counts: possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. 

In January of 2017, members of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office conducted two controlled buys from Stansbury. The buys were for crack cocaine and took place at his residence in Littleton.

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the house, which they executed on January 20, 2017.  

In the master bathroom, officers found a plastic bag containing smaller bags of powder and crack cocaine.  

In the bathroom closet, they found a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, and in the master bedroom, they found a .22-caliber AR rifle hidden behind a dresser and two handguns in an air vent. Elsewhere in the house, they recovered a digital scale and additional amounts of crack and powder cocaine.  

Seven more firearms were recovered from a room above the garage.  

Officers seized more than 20 grams of crack cocaine, 8 grams of powder cocaine, and 11 firearms. 

Stansbury was prohibited from possessing firearms due to a prior state felony conviction for maintaining a vehicle, dwelling, or place for controlled substances.

In March of 2018, he had a separate encounter with law enforcement when a sheriff’s office deputy stopped him for failing to signal. The officers found out the registered owner of the Dodge Ram had a suspended license.

As the officers prepared to write a warning for the violation, Stansbury sped away in the vehicle.  He fled at around 70 miles per hour in a 45 zone.  

After driving a short distance, he quickly took a turn, almost losing control. He then moved to the left side of the road and threw an object out of the window.  

After a couple of additional turns, the defendant parked in a driveway and was arrested without further trouble.  

One of the pursuing officers stopped where Stansbury had been seen throwing the object and recovered a bag of white powder, which was later confirmed to be 506 grams of cocaine.  

Higdon said in the statement the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime  

That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  

This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and district attorney’s offices in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.  

Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Pugh represented the government.