How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Marion Man Guilty of Traffiicking Fentanyl
Asheville -- Dustin Ray Norton, a 27-year-old Marion resident, entered a guilty plea on Monday, January 27, 2025, to one count of
opium/heroin trafficking, one count of
Schedule I restricted substance possession, and one count of Schedule II controlled substance possession.
Judge Alan Thornburg sentenced Norton to a mandatory 70–93 month jail sentence in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Corrections as a result of his guilty pleas. He also mandated that Norton pay a $500,000.00 fine.
Officers from the Asheville Police Department (APD) stopped a car with an illegally fake tag on May 8, 2024. Officers discovered drug paraphernalia in the car after making contact with the driver and passenger, who were later identified as Norton. The N.C. State Crime Lab reported that a test weight of 5.93 grams of fentanyl was discovered during a later search of the car. Norton asserted that he had the fentanyl.
WNCTimes
Source: Buncombe County DA Office
