A Raleigh man, identified as 34-year-old Dwight Daniel Hinton, was sentenced to 71 months in prison for operating within the firearms underworld, according to a recent statement by the U.S. Attorney's office. Hinton, a reputed high-ranking member of the Crips gang, had previously entered a guilty plea for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on November 3, 2023. His criminal activities extended beyond North Carolina, reaching into New York, where he utilized a straw purchaser, effectively circumventing the law, to buy guns and move them illegally.
During the course of the investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, a confidential informant managed to quickly purchase a trio of firearms from Hinton, one being an AR-15 rifle equipped with the capacity to potentially to be converted into a machinegun, as explained in the court documentation. In an unvarnished revelation, records disclosed that while behind bars, Hinton had contemplated taking up a murder-for-hire offer, valuing a human life at the chilling price of $20,000.
Hinton's checkered past is marred with eight previous felony convictions, a testament to his longstanding disregard for the law. His criminal record boasts a variety of charges ranging from robbery to assault, sketching a portrait of a man entangled in a life of recurrent transgressions. While awaiting sentencing for the firearm charges, Hinton's propensity for violence was on display once again, as he assaulted fellow inmates on separate occasions and was found with a makeshift weapon, all within the confines of correctional institutions.
In a statement obtained by the Department of Justice, Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar detailed Hinton's sentencing handed down by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan.
