Durham Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Federal Firearm Offenses

GREENVILLE—United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced Ireshia Donte Summers, aka Eric Summers, 35, of Durham, North Carolina, to 360 months’ imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.

On July 10, 2013, Summers pled guilty to three federal charges: conspiracy to possess stolen firearms and ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; possession of firearm in a school zone; and aiding and abetting, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(q)(2)(A),924, and 2; felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924.

According to the investigation, on May 31, 2012, Summers and his co-conspirator, Jason Lemar Medlyn broke into two residences in Granville County and stole, among other things, personal property, firearms, and ammunition. The defendants were discovered while still at the second residence by the homeowner. A Granville County Sheriff’s Deputy responding to the call regarding the residential break in pursued two males from Durham, North Carolina, later identified as Summers and Medlyn. Summers was the passenger in the fleeing vehicle and he fired shots at the pursuing deputy. A North Carolina State Highway Patrolman picked up the chase in Wake County, and Summers fired shots at the trooper.

The car sped through two school zones in Durham before crashing. Three hand guns were found near the vehicle along with a stolen television, Nooks, and jewelry.

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods(PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Granville County Sheriff’s Office, the Durham Police Department, and the FBI Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force composed of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Raleigh Police Department, Durham Police Department, Durham County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, Cary Police Department, and the Garner Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney, S. Katherine Burnette prosecuted the case.