Wilmington man pleads guilty after getting pulled over with 422 grams of powder cocaine in 2017
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A Wilmington man pleaded guilty on April 15 to drug trafficking charges and was sentenced to nearly 8 years in prison.
Rodney Nixon, 46, was sentenced to 70-93 months and ordered to pay the statutorily mandated drug trafficking fine of $50,000.
Wilmington police officers conducted a traffic stop on a green Honda Odyssey that Nixon was driving on August 1 of 2017.
“At the time, this defendant was a primary subject of a lengthy narcotics investigation that WPD Vice and Narcotics Detectives had been conducting. A canine was brought to the scene to perform a dog sniff on the vehicle. After the canine positively alerted for the presence of narcotics in the vehicle, a probable cause search of the vehicle was performed. Officers did not locate any narcotics in the passenger area of the vehicle, but they did find three magnetic keys consistent with those used to open hidden compartments in the vehicle commonly used to store narcotics. Based on this discovery, a search warrant was obtained for that vehicle so a more thorough search of it could be conducted,” an announcement from District Attorney Ben David states.
Detectives reportedly found a hidden compartment under the front passenger floorboard that contained $11,140 in cash and a plastic bag that had 421.76 grams of powder cocaine, 25.89 grams of crack cocaine and 449 bindles of heroin.
Investigators lifted a fingerprint off the plastic bag that had narcotics and matched the print to the right index finger of Nixon.
“Given the age of the case, there have obviously been delays in the prosecution of this matter caused by factors outside of our control. Nevertheless, it has remained important that individuals like Mr. Nixon, who engage in the large-scale distribution of dangerous drugs are punished for the harm their actions have caused our community. Thanks to the thorough investigation of Vice and Narcotics Detectives with the Wilmington Police Department, we were able to do that in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Brad Matthews said.
Vice and Narcotics Detectives and other officers with the Wilmington Police Department investigated this case.
“Our office will continue to prioritize the prosecution of career offenders who repeatedly peddle poison for profit in our district,” David said.
The State was represented by Assistant District Attorney Brad Matthews and the defendant was represented by Assistant Public Defender Kane Podraza.
“Due to the nature of their work, our Vice and Narcotics Unit detectives are often the unsung heroes of our agency. I am extremely proud of the work they did on this case. With the amount of drugs that Mr. Nixon possessed, it was paramount that he received a lengthy prison sentence to ensure that he is not able to return his dangerous behaviors to our streets. Heroin, among other drugs, cause major problems for not only our community, but for numerous other cities across our nation. Our department is committed to continuing our pursuit of justice to do our part to get drug traffickers out of the community and into prison,” said Chief Donny Williams.
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