Goldsboro man faces life in prison after federal conviction in drug trafficking operation

NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCN) — A man from Goldsboro faces sentencing up to life in prison after a federal jury finds him guilty of multiple counts of trafficking methamphetamine.

In a press release from U.S. Attorney Michael Easley, Tamarcus Shaquan Ellis, 34, was convicted on Aug. 29 on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and two counts of distributing five grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to court records, the A.T.F. was investigating Ellis as part of an operation targeting crystal meth dealers who were operating in Goldsboro and Jacksonville in early 2021.

By late Spring 2021, the U.S. Attorney says the ATF zeroed in on Ellis’s drug trafficking organization after arresting other high-level dealers.

Court records also showed that investigators used a confidential source to buy drugs from Ellis’s organization — but Ellis reportedly remained distant from being directly involved in the drug transactions.

Records also showed that Ellis used lower-level underlings in his organization to deliver the drugs while he was nearby, which some of those underlings testified at trial to confirm those transactions and that Ellis supplied them with the drugs.

Ellis will be sentenced in December by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.