Evergreen Reporter

WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Wilmington man was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possession of a stolen, loaded firearm, which was apprehended after he dropped it in the playground of a daycare while fleeing from police. On February 21, 2024, Shaquille Gregg, age 29, pled guilty to the charge. The sentence imposed is the statutory maximum for this crime.

“This Blood gang member received the maximum time behind bars after ditching a stolen gun on a daycare playground while he ran to dodge arrest,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “Officers should be commended for their work apprehending the defendant and their quick action finding the gun before a toddler could. This case came from our Violent Crime Action Plan (VCAP) partnership with local law enforcement to stop armed Wilmington-based gang members in their tracks.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, on January 26, 2022, an officer with the Wilmington Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Gregg was the passenger. Once the vehicle stopped, Gregg fled from the vehicle on foot. After a brief foot chase, officers were able to apprehend Gregg. Officers retraced the path of Gregg’s flight from law enforcement and located a stolen Smith and Wesson pistol in the fenced-in playground area of a daycare. Subsequent testing revealed the presence of Gregg’s DNA on the firearm.

In 2014, Gregg, a member of the Double-II Bloods, shot a man in the face and back after he questioned his gang affiliation. When officers arrested Gregg for the shooting, they located him at his residence asleep with his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter and a loaded 9mm pistol under his pillow. In 2015, Gregg was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for this conduct in New Hanover County Superior Court and was sentenced to 75-102 months in prison.

Gregg also has prior convictions for possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin, carrying a concealed gun, and two federal convictions for distribution of heroin. He has been validated as a member of the Bloods street gang by the North Carolina Department of Corrections.

Michael Easley made this announcement following sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The FBI’s Coastal Carolina Safe Streets Gang Task Force, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Wilmington Police Department (WPD), and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case; Special Assistant United States Attorney William Van Trigt prosecuted it.

The conviction is part of VCAP initiative involving local state federal agencies focusing on strategic enforcement interagency coordination intelligence-led policing.

Related court documents can be found on U.S District Court Eastern District North Carolina website or PACER Case No:7:22-cr-00123BO-001.