Columbus County man sentenced for drug, weapons cases
COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Columbus County man will spend more than 15 years behind bars for his role in several crimes in Columbus and Brunswick counties.
On July 8th, Maurice Isaac Hemingway received a combined 17 years in prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack) and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
According to a Columbus County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were called to a residence on Sunset Terrace in Whiteville on July 10th, 2019 for reports of shots fired into an occupied dwelling. The report states Maurice Hemingway jumped from a window and ran into a wooded area as deputies were trying to locate him. When they were unable to find Hemingway, they returned to the residence and got permission to search for evidence. Deputies and detectives found a rifle and ammunition hidden under a mattress in the room where Hemingway had jumped from the window.
The report states that because Hemingway is a convicted felon on federal probation, warrants were issued for Firearm by a Felon and Resisting a Public Officer.
In another investigation, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on US 74 in the Leland area on March 7, 2020. There were three people in the vehicle- an unknown driver, Maurice Hemingway, and Samual Arnett. All three men were identified as suspects in a Wilmington assault. During the traffic stop, a K9 officer was deployed and found a firearm and drug paraphernalia. The report states Hemingway gave deputies a false ID, in an attempt to keep them from discovering the warrants from the 2019 incident.
Hemingway was taken into custody under the false identity. During a standard strip search, detention officers found a firearm inserted in Hemingway’s rectum and narcotics near his genitalia.
Once his true identity was discovered, Hemingway was federally indicted.
In addition to his prison sentence, Hemingway was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release.
He also received an additional 5 years of supervised release for his previous federal release violations.
