The suspect in a 2019 shooting and a string of other crimes across three counties will serve more than 17 years in federal prison.
Maurice Isaac Hemingway was found guilty in federal court of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm by a felon. He will serve 204 months in prison, with eight years of supervised probation on his release.
The sentencing on July 8 brought to an end a series of crimes that began in July 2019.
On July 10, 2019, deputies were called to Sunset Terrace near Whiteville to a report of someone shooting into a home. Hemingway escaped out a window while deputies came through the front door of the home. He eluded officers in a wooded area.
The female resident of the home identified Hemingway, and showed deputies a rifle and other items Hemingway had hidden. Hemingway was already a convicted felon. Deputies obtained warrants and continued searching for him.
In March 2020, Brunswick County deputies initiated a traffic stop on a suspect vehicle identified in an assault in Wilmington. Hemingway, Samuel Arnett and an unidentified man were in the car.
The BCSO K9 indicated narcotics in the vehicle, and deputies located a firearm and drug paraphernalia inside. Hemingway gave officers a fake identification, but the name on the ID also had active warrants. He was taken into custody under the assumed name.
While being searched at the Brunswick County Detention Center, deputies found a firearm stashed in Hemingway’s rectum, and narcotics hidden near his genitalia, a press release said. He was correctly identified, and federally indicted on Oct. 29, 2020, by a federal grand jury.
While Hemingway was awaiting sentencing when he stabbed a fellow inmate, a release from the sheriff’s office said.
The investigation was a joint effort between the CCSO and the ATF Violent Crimes Task Force Officer assigned to the sheriff’s office here.
“This collaboration ensures that the most severe cases are considered for federal prosecution, often resulting in harsher sentences compared to state charges,” Sheriff Bill Rogers said in a press release.
