NEW BERN, N.C. – CiGi Potter, 37, of Pitt County North Carolina, was sentenced to 80 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine, and distribution of 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.
According to court documents, evidence presented in court and other documents, Potter supplied methamphetamine distributors in Duplin, Pitt, and Onslow Counties. This included a violent white supremacist organization operating in Onslow County. Two members of the white supremist group and a third person had ordered a pound of methamphetamine from Potter. On April 12, 2019, at her residence in Farmville, NC, Potter only provided them with 8 ounces. One of the individuals produced a firearm and discharged the firearm into the ground after demanding the remainder. Potter produced an additional ounce of methamphetamine and the three left. Farmville Police had set up a license check in the area unrelated to this incident. The three drove towards the license check. One of the passengers fled from the van and hid the methamphetamine and the firearm in the woods. The methamphetamine was later retrieved and provided to a high-ranking member in the group. Two of the individuals who initially arranged the deal have been sentenced in federal court. The person to whom they ultimately provided with the methamphetamine is scheduled for sentencing in January 2022.
Prior to the above incident, on April 8, 2019, law enforcement stopped Potter for a traffic violation in Pitt County. During a search her car, law enforcement found more than 30 grams of methamphetamine and a set of digital scales. Later, on October 7, 2019, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Administration conducted a controlled purchase of 4 ounces of methamphetamine in Lenoir County from Potter. ATF and DEA conducted a second controlled purchase of 3 ounces of methamphetamine from Potter on October 23, 2019. Potter was arrested on federal charges in November 2019.
During the investigation, law enforcement was able to determine that Potter was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute and distributing more than 6 kilograms of methamphetamine from February 2018 until November 2019.
This is part of operation Fighting Jelly Fish which is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Duplin, Craven, Lenoir, Pitt and Onslow County Sheriff’s Offices, and the Jacksonville, New Bern and Farmville Police Departments investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:19-cr-00163-FL.
U.S. Attorney’s
Heroin Education Action Team
If you have knowledge of fraud, waste, abuse, or allegations of mismanagement involving disaster relief operations, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at: (866) 720-5721 or e-mail at: disaster@leo.gov
Hurricane Florence
PSA: National Center for Disaster Fraud
Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America.
Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect.