Two Gastonia men with long rap sheets stretching back more than a decade are headed to federal prison after investigators caught them selling fentanyl-laced pills and illegal firearms out of Gaston County. Bryan Tromon Green was sentenced to 151 months, while Jarvis Sentell Lynn received 110 months, following guilty pleas tied to a 2024 undercover operation that involved drugs, guns and ammunition.
According to court documents cited by Queen City News, Green and Lynn were multiple-time convicted felons who worked as co-conspirators, selling both drugs and firearms in Gaston County. Green pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, while Lynn pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge. Both men also pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl, the outlet reports.
Court records detail what confidential informants and law enforcement bought from the pair between March and May 2024. Per the U.S. Department of Justice, agents purchased two firearms from Green and a firearm from Lynn. Queen City News adds that a confidential informant purchased two firearms from Green and that law enforcement separately purchased a semi-automatic pistol from Lynn.
Search Warrant Uncovers More Guns and Drugs
Green sold fentanyl pills multiple times to a confidential informant in March 2024, and Lynn sold pills pressed with fentanyl that same month in Gastonia, according to court documents referenced by Queen City News. On May 16, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Lynn's residence in Gastonia, seizing firearms, ammunition, marijuana, and cocaine.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Alicia Jones described the danger of mixing narcotics with illegal firearms in a statement carried by the Justice Department, calling the combination a “recipe for violence and tragedy” and stressing that disarming prohibited felons and cutting off drug flows remain top priorities for federal and local partners.
Lynn's Criminal History Dates Back Over a Decade
Neither man was a stranger to the justice system before the 2024 investigation. Lynn was named in a December 2011 federal grand jury indictment out of Charlotte charging 10 individuals with conspiracy to distribute 280 or more grams of crack cocaine, part of an FBI Safe Streets Task Force operation, according to the FBI. At the time of that indictment, Lynn was already in state custody in North Carolina.
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) bars anyone convicted of a felony punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing, receiving, or transferring firearms or ammunition.
Sentences Follow Fentanyl Crisis Squeezing Gaston County
The sentences land amid a fentanyl and opioid crisis that has hit Gaston County especially hard.
The case unfolded amid broader concerns about fentanyl and overdose risks.
Federal Custody and What Comes Next
Beyond his prison term, Green was also sentenced to four years of supervised release, while Lynn received three years of supervised release, per court records cited by Queen City News. Both men are currently in federal custody and will be transferred to Federal Bureau of Prisons custody once designated to a federal facility.
The case is being prosecuted in the Western District of North Carolina.
