Two brothers from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, have been handed federal prison sentences for their involvement in extensive drug trafficking enterprises that distributed substances like crack cocaine and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid far more potent than heroin, throughout Nash County. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Anivel Pedro Puddy, 35, and Carvell Shamike Puddy, 33, are now facing 10 and nine years behind bars, respectively, followed by supervised release periods.
Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar addressed the gravity of the situation, stating, "Pumping illicit narcotics—especially fentanyl—into our communities not only endangers the lives of our citizens, it is a serious federal crime." Moreover, Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone commended his team for not halting at surface-level investigations but rather elevating the case to target "major players in the drug trade" that have made their community safer with their arrests, with this, information also coming from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Detailed court documents revealed Anivel Puddy's illicit drug sales in the Rocky Mount area from 2023 to early 2024, including transactions with fentanyl-laced Percocet pills, the investigation involved the use of informants and thorough surveillance leading to searches of several residences linked to him. During one search, law enforcement discovered upwards of 470 grams of cocaine, fentanyl pills mimicking Percocet, marijuana, paraphernalia, and high-capacity firearm magazines, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed these findings.
Carvell Puddy orchestrated his drug trade from numerous homes within Rocky Mount facilitating the undercover purchase of over 500 grams of crack by law enforcement by law enforcement, his arrest unfolded through searches that uncovered an additional 60 grams of the narcotic, a loaded 9mm handgun equipped with an extended magazine, and even a sawed-off shotgun in a disassembled state, these details also follow from the U.S. Attorney's announcement. After their conviction by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, the case now stands as a testament to the cooperative efforts of the Nash County Sheriff’s Office and the ATF, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie A. Childress and Caroline Webb spearheading the prosecution.
