42-year-old Jermaine Douglas Grandy, of Lenoir, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl and illegal gun possession. The announcement was made Friday (August 4) by Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to evidence presented at Grandy’s trial and documents filed with the court, between December 2020 and February 2021, Grandy conspired with others to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in Caldwell County and surrounding areas.

Trial evidence established that Grandy obtained the drugs from a supply source in Arizona, and frequently travelled there to purchase fentanyl pills in bulk quantities. On February 14, 2021, as Grandy was returning to North Carolina from a trip to Arizona, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of Grandy’s vehicle in Granite Falls. Upon searching the vehicle, law enforcement located inside the vehicle three loaded 9mm pistols, and approximately 34,221 pills wrapped in fourteen bundles concealed in the air vent under the hood of the car.

Later the same day, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence associated with Grandy, from which they seized a money counter, two digital scales, and other items consistent with the packaging and distribution of narcotics. Law enforcement also seized 29 illegal firearms, including semi-automatic rifles and handguns, ammunition, and approximately 79 magazines.

In February 2023, a federal jury convicted Grandy of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Grandy is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prison upon designation of a federal facility. As of earlier today (August 5) he was being held in the Catawba County Detention Facility.

In making Friday’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended the ATF, the SBI, and the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case and thanked the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, the Hickory Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville is prosecuting the case.

[Photo of Jermaine Douglas Grandy courtesy of Catawba County Sheriff’s Office]