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Press Release

Fayetteville Man Deemed “Priority Number One” Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking Crimes and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that yesterday in federal court, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced GENESIS LEE WHITTED, JR., 28, of Fayetteville to 420 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release. 

A joint investigation conducted by the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that WHITTED was the leader of a violent, Fayetteville-based Bloods gang called “Addicted to Money” or “A.T.M.”  WHITTED and other members of the gang have been linked to serious crimes in the Fayetteville community, including home invasion robberies, carjackings, shootings, financial fraud, and drug trafficking. WHITTED and other members of “A.T.M.” regularly possessed firearms in furtherance of their crimes. 

WHITTED was responsible for manufacturing and distributing large amounts of narcotics, primarily cocaine and cocaine base (crack), over almost ten years. Because he was so adept at manufacturing cocaine base, WHITTED obtained tattoos on his chest of a Pyrex measuring cup and a box of baking soda--key implements in the cocaine base manufacturing process.

In late 2015, WHITTED opened a purported car wash called LLB Auto Spa, located at 1124A Pamalee Drive, Fayetteville. Using covert surveillance techniques, the FBI and FPD recorded WHITTED’s and his accomplices’ activities. The recordings showed that over the course of several months, many cars pulled in and out of the car wash, but very few cars were actually washed.  It appeared that the “car wash” was primarily a place for drug transactions to occur.

In addition to drug dealing, WHITTED and other “A.T.M” members were feared due to their propensity for violent home invasion robberies of other drug dealers.  Girlfriends of drug dealers were also frequently harmed during these invasions.  On two occasions, WHITTED and his accomplices poured boiling water on the victims until they disclosed the locations of the drugs and/or currency. During one of these invasions, a Taser was deployed on a woman’s genital area.

Because of the threat posed by WHITTED, the Fayetteville Police Department deemed him “Priority Number One.”

As a result of this investigation, several associates of WHITTED have also been charged, convicted, and sentenced in federal court over the last two years:

  • Wayne Whitted a/k/a “Weezy” (5:15-CR-372-H-2) (drug conspiracy) 28 months imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release;
  • Joel McLaurin a/k/a “Knowledge” (5:15-CR-372-H-3) (drug conspiracy) 25 months imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release;
  • Perry Sykes a/k/a “P-Funk”(5:13-CR-094-BO) (revocation of federal Supervised Release) 30 months imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release;
  • Kenneth McMillian a/k/a “K-Black” (5:16-CR-323-BO) (drug distribution) 72 months imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release;
  • Bobby Bailey (4:16-CR-0037-H-1; 7:16-CR-0098-H) (armed carjacking and bank fraud) 144 months imprisonment followed by 5 years supervised release; and
  • Ericka Johnson (4:16-CR-0037-H-2) (bank fraud) 14 months imprisonment followed by 5 years supervised release.
     

The Fayetteville Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the criminal investigation of this case.  Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Lemmon and Boz Zellinger handled the prosecution of this case for the government.

Updated March 7, 2018

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses