‘High-ranking’ gang member convicted of fentanyl distribution, to face 40-320 years in prison

RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) - A Wilmington man has been convicted of trafficking heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and will face up to 40-320 years in prison, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Michael Easley for the Eastern District of N.C.

Don Eugene Nixon Jr., a 48-year-old that Easley says is a high-ranking Bloods gang leader, was convicted on eight counts including:

• Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl
• Distribution of heroin and fentanyl
• Possession with the intent to distribute heroin

The office says he faces a minimum of five and a maximum of 40 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced later this year.

“According to court records and evidence presented at trial, a months-long investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Wilmington Police Department resulted in six controlled purchases of large quantities of drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, from Nixon. Nixon would deliver the drugs to the informant pressed into a square block shape, tightly wrapped with black electrical tape. In addition, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Nixon’s home and seized 131 grams of heroin and three handguns,” the announcement states.

According to Easley, trial testimony found that he was a “large-scale heroin dealer who operated well over a decade in Eastern North Carolina” and that “his rank in and reach within the Bloods gang made it difficult to investigate and prosecute his crimes” due to threats. The announcement says witnesses who helped in the investigation had to relocate and are receiving federal protection.

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