A Maple Hill man will spend the next decade in federal prison after authorities tied him to a drug-distribution group operating across three Eastern North Carolina counties. The case involved fentanyl and methamphetamine sales, controlled buys and guns found during the investigation.
According to WITN, Eugene James was sentenced Tuesday in Wilmington after pleading guilty in January to distributing at least 5 grams of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Authorities said the group also distributed cocaine and crack cocaine across Onslow, Pender and New Hanover counties. The investigation began in 2024, and ATF agents and Jacksonville police made controlled purchases of fentanyl and meth from James at a Maple Hill home.
Investigation Led From Maple Hill To Federal Court
James was arrested on May 6, 2025, at a home in Onslow County, where investigators said they found a small amount of drugs and several guns. The arrest came more than a year after authorities began investigating the group and more than a year before Tuesday’s sentencing.
The prosecution was part of Operation Counterpunch, a Homeland Security Task Force initiative focused on multi-agency investigations involving drug trafficking and violent criminal networks. The Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office cited the same operation in June when announcing a separate 15-year federal sentence for a Wilmington man who pleaded guilty to fentanyl distribution.
For residents in the communities tied to the case, the sentence closes one chapter of an investigation that crossed county lines and relied on cooperation between federal agents and local police. It also underscores how fentanyl cases can bring lengthy federal prison terms when prosecutors establish repeated distribution through controlled purchases.
