Cabarrus County Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Possessing Firearms as a Convicted Felon

DOJ Press

GREENSBORO – A Kannapolis, North Carolina resident was sentenced on July 19, 2022, to 120 months in prison, followed by a 3-year term of supervised release for the offense of felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, Gerrell Laquan McRae, 39, pled guilty on April 7, 2022, to one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. On April 19, 2021, McRae was walking down a street in Kannapolis, when a Kannapolis Police Department officer recognized him and knew McRae had an outstanding warrant for arrest.  The officer attempted to arrest McRae, but he ran. The officer caught him and searched him incident to the arrest, finding a loaded .32 caliber pistol in McRae’s right pants pocket, as well as quantities of methamphetamine and heroin.

This offense repeated similar conduct from a few months earlier.  On January 6, 2021, McRae was walking down the street in Kannapolis, when two Kannapolis Police Department officers recognized him and knew he had an outstanding warrant for arrest. One officer activated blue lights and siren to get McRae to stop walking, but McRae ignored it and began to run.  The two officers pursued McRae behind several residences and eventually caught him.  McRae was carrying a fanny pack during the chase, which was slung around his torso underneath a jacket. McRae told the officers there was a gun and heroin in the fanny pack.  A search of the fanny pack revealed a loaded 9mm caliber handgun, additional rounds of 9mm ammunition, and quantities of Suboxone strips, heroin, and several items of drug paraphernalia.

At the time of his arrests in January and April 2021, McRae was a convicted felon and was therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm. McRae had prior convictions for multiple felonies including several convictions for distribution of cocaine and one conviction for Common Law Robbery in the Superior Court of Cabarrus County, North Carolina, as well as a conviction for Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury and Larceny from the Person in the Superior Court of Rowan County, North Carolina.


The Kannapolis Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) handled the investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig M. Principe.


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