Federal Jury Finds Charlotte Man Guilty of Firearms Offense
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a two–day trial which ended on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, a federal jury convicted Alvin Lee Edge, 33, of Charlotte, for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Melvin D. King, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Rodney D. Monroe, of the Charlotte–Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
The one–count criminal indictment filed on September 21, 2011, charged Edge with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Evidence presented at trial established that on the night of January 23, 2011, Edge was the gunman in a drive–by shooting into an unoccupied vehicle in the Wilmore neighborhood in Charlotte, using an assault–style rifle manufactured in the Philippines. Edge was arrested on February 4, 2011, at a residence in east Charlotte where the rifle was also found. Charlotte–Mecklenburg Police Department Crime Lab personnel testified regarding Edge’s DNA on the trigger of the rifle, and shell casings found at the scene of the drive–by shooting matching the same weapon. The jury deliberated for less than twenty minutes before finding the defendant guilty as charged.
The defendant has been in custody in the Western District of North Carolina since August 17, 2011, and will remain in custody until his sentencing date, which has not been set yet. Edge faces up to ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
The investigation was led by CMPD and ATF. The case was prosecuted by Speical Assistant United States Attorney Beth Greene of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
In October 2011, Beth Greene, a veteran prosecutor with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, was assigned by District Attorney Andrew Murray to serve as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, to prosecute state gang, violent crime and high level drug trafficking cases in federal court. Funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission, the goal of this partnership is to make Mecklenburg County safer through a coordinated enforcement effort.
With this conviction another dangerous criminal has been taken off of our streets,
said U.S. Attorney Tompkins, following Wednesday’s guilty plea. We are thankful to District Attorney Murray for assigning an experienced and well–respected local prosecutor such as Ms. Greene to our office, and for making this important investment in the safety of our communities possible.
We are always working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect the citizens of this community,
said Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray. The addition of Beth Greene as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney is a win for everyone in the community.
In March 2011, the Governor’s Crime Commission (GCC) approved a grant to fund the special prosecutor position, which is duly sworn in both state and federal courts. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office requested the funding.
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