Two men, including one convicted in long-ago homicide cases, were arrested late last week after law enforcement executed a search warrant at a house in the 1600 block of Cherry Street in the Hillsdale area and confiscated illegal drugs and cash.
Jimmie Lancaster, 71, is charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine and maintaining accommodation for the purpose of using illegal drugs, while Stepfon Cotton, 20, is cited for possession of marijuana , police spokesman, Cpl. Ricky Jackson said in a press release.
Jackson said more than nine-tenths of an ounce of crack cocaine, more than nine-tenths of an ounce of marijuana and just over $8,000 were found. Lancaster’s bail was set at $20,000, unsecured, and Cotton was released, he said.
The police department’s Special Operations Division and the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, after a police investigation, executed the warrant Thursday and made the arrests, Jackson said.
As for Lancaster’s past, state public safety records show he was convicted in 1989 in Nash County of second-degree murder and in 1983 in Edgecombe County of manslaughter. .
According to online microfilms of back issues of the Telegram, Lancaster was convicted in 1983 of stabbing Ralph Bullock to death, with the crime taking place in the 700 block of Henna Street.
Lancaster was originally charged with second-degree murder and pleaded not guilty, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter following a plea bargain with the district attorney’s office, the show showed. the Telegram microfilms.
The Telegram at the time quoted a prosecutor as telling the court that members of Bullock’s family were not particularly happy with the lesser charge, but wanted to avoid the complications that a jury trial would entail.
The microfilm also showed that Lancaster was arrested in 1988 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing of Kenneth Gorham in the 1000 block of Star Street on Thanksgiving Day of that year.
The newspaper, reporting the arrest at that time, said Gorham had died at Nash General Hospital from complications from the injury.
State public safety records also show that Lancaster was convicted in 1996 in Edgecombe County for impaired driving, in 1994 in Nash County for assault with a deadly weapon, and in 1981 in County of Edgecombe for theft over $200.
Nash County courthouse records show Cotton was charged Sept. 13 with felony possession of a stolen firearm, misdemeanor concealed possession, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. According to records, Cotton had a .45 caliber handgun belonging to Damien Dye and worth $550.
Records indicate the offenses took place on June 29 and the Spring Hope Police Department made the arrest.
State Court System records online also show that Cotton was charged Saturday in Edgecombe County with driving while his license was revoked and driving with a fictitious title, license plate or tag. or modified.
Online records indicated that Cotton listed an address in the 2000 block of Beverly Road and Lancaster listed an address in the 1600 block of Cherry Street.
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