Lee

NC Corrections Officer And Lee County Man Caught With Cocaine, Firearms, Cash

SANFORD, NC – A North Carolina corrections officer and a Lee County man face a litany of drug charges following their arrests last week.

Authorities from Lee, Nash, and Edgecombe counties seized five long guns, four handguns, about 5 ½ pounds of cocaine, and roughly $13,000 in cash in a July 9 search of a corrections officer’s car and home. 

Kenderick Antonio Womble, 52, and Gregory Wayne Baker, 47, were charged after sheriff’s deputies from Lee, Nash, and Edgecombe counties conducted a July 9 traffic stop along U.S. Highway 1 near Deep River Road. 

Authorities say Womble was driving the car and identified himself as an N.C. Department of Adult Correction employee. Deputies searched the vehicle and seized 2.2 pounds of cocaine, a gun, and a badge, according to a Nash County Sheriff’s Office release.

Deputies then obtained a search warrant for Womble’s 310 Mann St. home in Sanford. There, authorities say they found 47-year-old Baker — in addition to 3.3 pounds of cocaine, multiple firearms, and roughly $13,000 in cash. 

Lee
Womble

Womble was brought before a Lee County magistrate and charged with three counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts each of possession with intent to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and one count each of maintaining a vehicle for the sale of a controlled substance, maintaining a dwelling for the sale of a controlled substance and exceeding the posted speed. 

He was issued a $300,000 secured bond. 

Baker

Baker was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine by possession, possession with intent to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, maintaining a dwelling for the sale of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

He was issued a $100,000 secured bond.

The Nash County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division and narcotics detectives from Lee and Edgecombe counties participated in the operation.

“Sheriff Keith Stone would like to extend his appreciation to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance,” Sgt. Kevin Bissette said in the news release. “This collaborative effort from all law enforcement agencies removed a dangerous drug trafficker from our streets and prison system.”

Photos: Courtesy of Lee County Sheriff’s Office
This article first appeared in The Enterprise.