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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2007

CONTACT: SUELLEN PIERCE
704.338.3120
FAX 704.227.0264

LOCAL INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN ELEVEN-YEAR PRISON TERM FOR ASHEVILLE MAN
Asheville Man in Federal Custody on Crack Cocaine Charges Since December 2006

ASHEVILLE, NC - Dominique Terrell Tenant, 23, of Asheville was sentenced to 135 months in prison Tuesday, October 30, in federal court in Asheville for violating federal drug law. He had been charged in a one-count federal bill of indictment for knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute cocaine base, commonly known as “crack” cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, on or about July 20, 2006 in Buncombe County. Tenant was sentenced by the Honorable Lacy Thornburg, presiding judge. Tenant had previously entered a guilty plea in March 2007; he was arrested in December 2006 in Asheville and has remained in federal custody since that time. The Court also ordered that Tenant’s term of imprisonment be followed by a five-year term of supervised release and that he participate in drug treatment and educational opportunities and support his dependents during the time of the service of his term of imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert of the Western District of North Carolina, and Chief William Hogan of the Asheville Police Department announced the sentencing today. “The federal system not only offers strong penalties for drug distribution crimes, but can also provide pre-trial detention, and is therefore a good forum for bringing such charges,” Shappert said. The case against Dominique Terrell Tenant was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Asheville in December 2006, and the local investigation was conducted by officers of the Asheville Police Department. According to official court documents, in the evening on July 19, 2006, an undercover officer with the Asheville Police Department’s Drug Suppression Unit made a controlled purchase of “crack” cocaine from the defendant. Also according to court records, the defendant was held accountable for at least 150 grams but less than 500 grams of the controlled substance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose prosecuted the case.