Terry Sherwood Slade, a 55-year-old man with a history of criminal convictions, has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison for a series of robberies and for being in possession of a firearm as a felon. This sentencing, as announced by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, comes after Slade pleaded guilty to charges related to a Hobbs Act robbery and the unlawful firearm possession. The sentencing hearing noted that Slade has a track record of state and federal offenses, including a prior conviction for Hobbs Act robbery.
According to court documents, Slade's recent criminal activities spanned just a few weeks in late 2023. In November of that year, he threatened a store employee during a robbery at the House of Clouds Smoke Shop in Charlotte. While intimidating the employee with an implied gun threat, he looted the register. Just days later, at Nick's Arcade, Slade physically struggled to wrest a firearm from a security guard, a confrontation that enabled him to subsequently rob the arcade's private office. Slade's offense spree continued when he shot at an individual over a personal dispute on December 13, 2023;
in fact, when the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department apprehended him, they found him in possession of the firearm stolen from the arcade's security guard. The firearm was later linked to the cartridge found at the shooting scene, which matched the weapon's ballistic signature, confirming its use in the altercation cited by the victim. In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ferguson credited the "Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for the investigation of this case" and also recognized the "U.S. Probation Office for its assistance."
Following a guilty plea in September 2024, Slade was sentenced to 188 months in prison and will additionally be subject to three years of supervised release. He must also serve an added 12 months and one day for violating his previous supervised release conditions. Beyond his federal transgressions, Slade was recognized as an "armed career criminal" due to multiple state felony convictions in North Carolina, which include "Assault With a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury and Common Law Robbery." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte was responsible for prosecuting the case against Slade, ensuring another stint in prison for the habitual offender.
