A Whiteville man has been sentenced to a 23-year prison term for trafficking illegal substances including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. The sentencing took place following a guilty plea by Marion Lamont Flowers, 43, on February 9, 2024, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Launched in 2020, the investigation was a collective effort by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Whiteville Police Department, and the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office. Having overseen seven controlled purchases from Flowers between December 2020 to July 2021, a confidential informant managed to set up a buy of 1 kilogram of methamphetamine on July 20, 2021. At the sale, law enforcement, arresting Flowers at the scene, also confiscated 893.8 grams of near-pure methamphetamine alongside over $2000 in cash and a loaded handgun.
In addition to the roadside arrest, surveillance led agents to an EconoLodge where Flowers was allegedly distributing narcotics from a hotel room. Searches executed on two rooms rented by Flowers lead to the seizure of MDMA pills, Xanax, Alprazolam and Buprenorphine pills, as well as 37 grams of crack cocaine, 249 grams of cocaine, and 27 grams of fentanyl—with close to $4000 in cash also taken in by law enforcement.
Dating back to 1995, Flowers has an extensive criminal record, including a conviction for assault with intent to commit murder and armed robbery. Flowers, who shot a customer in the neck during one of his robberies, was also involved in robbing a bank and had pled guilty to drug-related offenses in 2016, as noted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III delivered the sentence after an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Daniel P. Bubar. The investigative efforts that led to Flowers' conviction were conducted by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the Whiteville Police Department, and the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons behind the prosecution of the case.
