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RALEIGH – A Bertie County man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for trafficking cocaine, cocaine base, and methamphetamine, and conspiring to commit money laundering in northeastern North Carolina.

On Aug. 2, 2021, Levar Anthony Leary pled guilty or was convicted of the charges.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Leary, 41, organized and led a drug trafficking organization from 2016 to early 2021 that was responsible for distributing cocaine, cocaine base (crack), methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana throughout northeastern North Carolina.

Leary and his associates used a hotel, nightclub, and convenience store in Bertie County as locations to distribute narcotics and launder money, according to the court record.

Using surveillance and technical investigative tools, law enforcement agents were able to track and observe Leary travel all over the country, including California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, in order to obtain large quantities of drugs and return to North Carolina.

A number of Leary’s associates have been previously convicted and sentenced: Johnny Earl Jordan (72 months); Fred Rudolph Robbins, Jr. (90 months); and Alexander Leander Williams, Jr. (132 months).

As a result of the investigation, law enforcement seized numerous vehicles and properties used to conceal the profits of this illegal activity as well as recovered multiple firearms and additional narcotics.

Among the items listed within the Order of Forfeiture (a document resulting from Leary’s guilty plea last year) were three parcels of real property: on US 17 North near Merry Hill; on Perrytown Road near Colerain; and on Farless Road near Merry Hill. Also seized were eight handguns and three vehicles.

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; and the State Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. They were assisted by the United States Marshals Service; Joseph K. Roberts, Department of Justice Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Financial Investigations Section; the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office; Chowan County Sheriff’s Office; the Dare County Sheriff’s Office; the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office; the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office; the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office; and the Elizabeth City Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller prosecuted the case.