Source: United States Department of Justice News
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Michael Wayne Noblitt, 43, of Marion, N.C., to 160 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
According to court documents and today’s court proceedings, in November 2019, an individual contacted law enforcement to report that Noblitt was trafficking methamphetamine in Rutherford County. Over the course of the investigation into Noblitt’s drug trafficking activities, law enforcement learned that Noblitt was also responsible for shooting at a dwelling, which Noblitt admitted to during a telephone conversation with the individual who reported him to law enforcement. According to court records, on November 25, 2019, law enforcement arrested Noblitt on outstanding warrants. At the time of his arrest, law enforcement seized from Noblitt more than 70 grams of methamphetamine and a Ruger .380 caliber pistol.
On June 6, 2022, Noblitt pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He is currently in custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rutherfordton Police Department for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.