A domestic dispute call at a home on Edenton's Macedonia Road ended with deputies uncovering roughly 10 ounces of marijuana, scales and grinders — and the man now facing felony charges lives right next door to the county sheriff. Tommie Wayne Basnight, 69, is charged with felony manufacture of marijuana, felony possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana paraphernalia, according to court documents. He is the older brother of Chowan County Sheriff Edward “Scooter” Basnight.
The case began Monday when Chowan County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a call regarding a domestic argument in Edenton, as reported by The Charlotte Observer. According to the Albemarle Observer, Tommie Wayne Basnight had called law enforcement himself, claiming his stepdaughter was at the home in violation of Department of Social Services directives. It was during that on-scene response to the domestic dispute — which involved the stepdaughter — that deputies say they identified evidence leading to the drug-related charges.
Tommie Wayne Basnight lives on an adjoining property next to his brother's home in Edenton, a small city located about 140 miles northeast of downtown Raleigh, per the same account. Deputies say they found the roughly 10 ounces of marijuana at the home along with grinders and scales, items North Carolina prosecutors can cite as circumstantial evidence of intent to sell even without a direct sale, according to the Albemarle Observer's sourcing.
Sheriff Says He's Stepped Back From the Case
Sheriff Basnight addressed the case publicly in a Facebook post Monday, revealing the investigation into his own brother and saying he wanted to ensure total transparency as it moves forward. He said he has removed himself from any involvement with the investigation and has spoken with the district attorney about the matter. The Chowan County Sheriff's Office says it is continuing a thorough investigation into the incident.
It would not be the first time the department has handed off a sensitive case to outside oversight. In January, the Chowan County Sheriff's Office turned an in-custody death investigation at the Chowan County Detention Center over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, in line with what the agency describes as standard protocol for conflict-free handling of high-profile matters.
Felony Thresholds and What Comes Next
Under North Carolina General Statute § 90-95, possessing more than 1.5 ounces of marijuana, or possessing it with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver, is a Class I felony, while possession of paraphernalia like scales and grinders under § 90-113.22 is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Chowan County falls under North Carolina's 1st Prosecutorial District, which handles criminal cases across seven northeastern counties including Chowan, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans — the jurisdiction that will help determine how the case proceeds now that the sheriff has stepped back.
Sheriff Basnight was appointed to lead the Chowan County Sheriff's Office in August 2020 after 18 years as a deputy in the department, including years as a certified K-9 handler starting in 2006. He won election to the post in November 2022 and is on the ballot for re-election this November, a timeline that puts his handling of a case involving his own brother under added scrutiny in a county of just 13,836 residents, where Edenton's township alone accounts for nearly 7,000 people.
Open questions remain about whether the district attorney will appoint an independent special prosecutor to avoid any regional conflict of interest, what specific Department of Social Services directives were at issue in the original domestic dispute, and how Tommie Wayne Basnight's defense will respond to the intent-to-sell charges given the presence of scales and grinders at the home.
