DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
GRETCHEN C.F. SHAPPERT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2007

CONTACT: SUELLEN PIERCE
704.338.3120
FAX 704.227.0264

LOCAL INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN TEN-YEAR PRISON TERM FOR FELON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM
Charlotte Native in Federal Custody on Firearms Charges Since September 2006 CHARLOTTE, NC - Martinez Orlandis Black, 31, of Charlotte was sentenced to the maximum penalty of ten years Tuesday in federal court for a violation of the federal firearms law–being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Black was sentenced by the Honorable Robert J. Conrad, Jr., presiding judge. Black had previously entered a guilty plea in December 2006; he was arrested in September 2006 and has remained in federal custody since that time. The Court also ordered that Black pay $5,2798.44 restitution for the funeral and burial expenses of a victim in a related shooting. “This defendant represented a threat to our city,” said U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert of the Western District of North Carolina. “The federal system not only offers strong penalties for gun crimes, but can also provide pre-trial detention for dangerous offenders, and is therefore a good forum for bringing such charges.”

The case against Martinez Orlandis Black was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of last year. Black was charged with violations of the federal firearms statutes, all of which alleged that on different dates in 2004 Black was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. In each count, the government’s allegations included information that Black had been previously convicted of one or more felony crimes , that is: Felony Possession By a Convicted Felon, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court,on or about August 30, 2001; and Felony Trafficking a Schedule II Controlled Substance, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, on or about April 7, 1995. In a plea agreement Black pled guilty to a single count. The two-year investigation was conducted by officers of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Nicks Williams prosecuted the case.