Originally scheduled for sentencing in April, Michael Christopher Harris was sentenced last Wednesday to 84 months in federal prison for felon in possession of a weapon and ammo.

Federal court records give no reason why his sentencing date was moved to February 22. 

Previous court records showed that the change in sentencing to April came after Harris’s attorney learned of a family issue which prevented him from appearing in January.

Last week, according to court records, District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan sentenced the Roanoke Rapids man to seven years in prison on count 2 while she dismissed count 1 — felon in possession of ammunition.

Upon completion of his sentence he will serve three years of supervised release.

A week before the sentencing in New Bern Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers II in Raleigh denied Harris’s motion for new counsel and his sentencing date was then changed to February 22.

On July 6, 2022, Harris pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Harris had initially maintained his innocence but then pleaded guilty to one of the two federal counts lodged against him.

The federal charges he faced were tied to two separate shooting investigations which took place in Northampton County.