GREENVILLE, N.C. – Xavier Santonio Bobbitt of Oxford man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon. No stranger to federal courts, this was Bobbitt’s third conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 21, 2020, an officer of the Oxford Police Department was traveling along College Street in Oxford, North Carolina, when he observed a silver 2005 Buick LeSabre improperly pass another vehicle at high speed. The LaSabre continued at a high speed as the officer pursued. The vehicle eventually came to an abrupt stop. The driver, later identified as Xavier Bobbitt, jumped from the vehicle and ran. Officers apprehended Bobbitt on foot shortly thereafter.
A nearby witness advised law enforcement that someone threw two firearms from the passenger side window of the vehicle as it stopped. Officers recovered the firearms, a Springfield .45 caliber pistol loaded with 29 rounds in an extended magazine and a Stag Arms 5.56 caliber rifle loaded with 28 rounds of ammunition. Both had been reported stolen. In the car’s trunk, officers found a black mesh bag that contained various caliber ammunition, two loaded pistol magazines, and a loaded drum magazine.
Bobbitt was transported to Oxford PD, where he waived his Miranda Rights and was interviewed. He said he bought the firearms off the street and had instructed his passenger to throw them out the window when he realized they were going to be stopped by the police.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Since 2017, the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices in those communities on a sustained basis to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Oxford Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted the case.