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RALEIGH – Capone Ridley of Ahoskie was sentenced here Tuesday in federal court to 117 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute powder and crack cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of that drug crime.

Ridley, age 29, pled guilty to the charges on Aug. 10.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, on May 21, 2020, the Ahoskie Police Department received a call to Hill Street in Ahoskie regarding a domestic assault by Ridley. When officers arrived, the victim-caller was on scene, but Ridley had left. The victim told officers that Ridley had assaulted her after a dispute over missing money and that she knew he carried a firearm. She provided consent for law enforcement to search the house.

As she reviewed the consent form with law enforcement, Ridley called her. She then put the call on speakerphone so that the officers could hear the conversation. Ridley instructed the victim not to let officers search the house, but she told him it was too late.

During the search, officers found a bag containing 24 grams of a mixture of powder cocaine and cocaine base in the master bedroom. In a bathroom closet, in a black and yellow bookbag, officers found two bags containing over 100 grams of powder cocaine. Also in the closet, they located a Roman/Cugir Micro Draco 7.62mm pistol with a fully loaded barrel magazine.

The victim told officers that the drugs and gun belonged to Ridley.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III.

The Ahoskie Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted.