News

City man gets 23½-year prison term for dealing fentanyl

Treyveon Marquis McClure

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 27, 2023

A 24-year-old Hendersonville man was sentenced to up to 23½ years in prison after he pleaded guilty last week to dealing fentanyl, District Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced.

Treyveon Marquis McClure pleaded guilty to level three trafficking in opioids, the highest level of opioid trafficking in North Carolina, trafficking in excess of 28 grams. After accepting his guilty plea, Superior Court Judge Robert Warren sentenced McClure to a mandatory level-three prison term of at least 18 years nine months and up to 23½ years.

McClure also received a concurrent sentence for his plea of guilty to the crime of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. According to court records and the May 23 sentencing hearing, the Henderson County Drug Task Force began an investigation in early January 2022 into the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics at and around a house in close proximity to the Hendersonville YMCA. The investigation quickly morphed into a comprehensive multi-month investigation of numerous individuals that appeared to be involved, at varying levels, in illegal drug and gang activity.

After the extensive probe, Henderson County Drug Task Force detectives were able to determine that McClure was operating as one of the leaders of a continuing criminal enterprise that was distributing illegal narcotics through a web of lieutenants and foot soldiers that worked for him, Murray said in a news release.
On April 20, 2022, four months after the investigation began, deputies from the sheriff's Crime Suppression Unit made a vehicle stop, based on actionable intelligence, of a white Dodge Charger McClure was driving. McClure had an active warrant for his arrest at the time of the vehicle stop.

While deputies were attempting to arrest McClure, he broke away and attempted to run down I-26. Deputies, along with a police K9, were able to quickly catch McClure. While deputies were attempting to restrain McClure, who was actively resisting, they saw him throw a plastic bag of white powdery substance suspected to be an illegal narcotic onto the side of the highway. The bag was retrieved and submitted for analysis to the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory, which found that the seized bag contained 110 grams of fentanyl.
"The defendant will have the next 18-23 years in prison to ponder his ill-fated decision to poison the streets of Henderson County and beyond with illicit drugs," Murray said.
Assistant District Attorney Heather Brittain handled the prosecution and sentencing hearing of McClure. Murray thanked Henderson County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Task Force officers for their extensive and thorough investigation of the illegal criminal enterprise.

“Their steadfast commitment to eradicating harmful illegal drugs from the streets of Henderson County is to be commended,” Murray said. “Their dismantling of a criminal enterprise through countless arrests has prevented our streets from being poisoned and undoubtedly resulted in countless lives being saved.”