Tarboro man sentenced on drug, gun charges

A Tarboro man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for armed drug trafficking.

Drako Butler, 35, pleaded guilty to the charges on March 5. U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle handed down the sentence June 13 in an Elizabeth City courtroom.

“Narcotics, guns and money are a recipe for disaster,” U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in a news release. “This Tarboro drug trafficker was heavily armed, stocked with narcotics and flush with cash when officers searched his property. Searches turned up 11 guns, including assault rifles and a 50-round drum magazine, alongside all the hallmarks of a committed drug trafficker — digital scales, money counters and a hoard of narcotics.

“Drug traffickers should take note — our partnerships in Nash and Edgecombe counties have never been stronger, and federal crimes mean federal time.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Butler became the subject of an investigation after Nash County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped his vehicle on May 31, 2023, finding cocaine, marijuana, marijuana edibles and a 9mm semi-automatic firearm loaded with 24 rounds of ammunition.

Following that stop, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nash County and Edgecombe County sheriffs’ offices and the Tarboro and Rocky Mount police departments executed a search warrant on Butler’s home on June 6, 2023. Inside, they found cocaine, methamphetamine, psilocin and marijuana; more than $26,000 in cash; six firearms (four AR-style rifles, a shotgun and a pistol), an undetermined number of orange-colored pills, six digital scales, a money counter, six glass pipes and counterfeit currency.

Prosecutors say Butler admitted to dealing marijuana after his June 6 arrest and was released on bond.

On Nov. 29, 2023, law enforcement officers searched Butler’s new home while executing a federal arrest warrant for the drugs and guns found during the June search. Officers found more than 15 pounds of marijuana, along with cocaine and five more firearms (a 5.56 caliber rifle, a .22 long rifle caliber rifle, a 10mm handgun, a 9mm handgun with an obliterated serial number, a 50-round, drum-loaded magazine and a 9mm handgun with an extended magazine), assorted ammunition, six counterfeit $100 bills, digital scales, a money counter and glass pipes.

Butler again admitted to investigators that he sold marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Aubart prosecuted the case.

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