A man identified as one of the leaders of an elaborate drug operation in the Henderson County area will be spending 18-23 years in prison.
A press release from the office of R. Andrew Murray, district attorney for Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties, says Treyveon Marquis McClure, 24, of Hendersonville, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, May 23, to level three trafficking in opioids (Fentanyl).
The DA's office explains that a level three is "the highest level of opioid trafficking in North Carolina which requires trafficking in excess of 28 grams."
McClure was sentenced to a mandatory level three prison sentence of 225 months minimum, and 282 months maximum, along with a $500,000 fine. He also received a concurrent sentence for his plea of guilty to the crime of operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise.
Court records show the Henderson County Drug Task Force, in early January 2022, had begun investigating the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics around a house located "in extremely close proximity" to the Hendersonville YMCA. The investigation turned into an extensive operation, which monitored several individuals suspected to be involved in the illegal activities.
Through this investigation, the Task Force determined McClure was operating as one of the leaders of the "continuing criminal enterprise." On April 20, 2022, deputies stopped a white Dodge Charger driven by McClure, who had an active warrant for his arrest, the district attorney writes. McClure was able to break away from deputies and ran down Interstate 26 before being caught with the help of a K9 assistant. The DA's office writes while McClure was being arrested, deputies witnessed him throwing a "plastic bag of white powdery substance suspected to be an illegal narcotic onto the side of the highway." Once analyzed by the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory, officials determined the substance to be 110 grams of Fentanyl.
"The defendant will have the next 18-23 years in prison to ponder his ill-fated decision to poison the streets of Henderson County and beyond with illicit drugs," District Attorney Murray writes in his release.
The DA also thanked the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Task Force for their commitment to the investigation.
"Their steadfast commitment to eradicating harmful illegal drugs from the streets of Henderson County is to be commended," DA Murray wrote. "Their dismantling of a criminal enterprise through countless arrests has prevented our streets from being poisoned and undoubtedly resulted in countless lives being saved."