NEW BERN, N.C. – Antonio Rashon Quarles, 33, of Oriental, Pamlico County, was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Quarles pled guilty to the single-count indictment on March 9, 2021.
According to court records and statements made during hearings, in November 2019, Quarles was on North Carolina state probation, with curfew and electronic monitoring, following a series of felony convictions. On November 2, 2019, probation officers received a tip that Quarles had been distributing drugs and had a firearm. They reviewed GPS data from Quarles’ electronic monitoring device and saw that he had violated his curfew and entered high-crime areas that he had previously been directed to avoid.
On the morning of November 3, 2019, state probation officers, with assistance from Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a search of Quarles’ residence in Oriental, North Carolina—a condition of his probation agreement. Inside Quarles bedroom, deputies located a Star .25 caliber, semiautomatic pistol. It was loaded with eight rounds and the serial number was partially scratched off.
Quarles’ federal prosecution followed fourteen prior state felony convictions. His criminal record includes common law robbery, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and multiple larceny convictions.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh 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. 5:19-cr-0511-FL.