NORFOLK, Va. – Norman Preston Stephenson, 35, and Samuel Gray, aka Pig, 36, both of Portsmouth, were sentenced today to 264 months, and 120 months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. Additionally, Stephenson was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and Gray was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Stephenson was a member of the Corna Sto Boys, a group formed in the late 1990s by individuals distributing crack cocaine near the corner of Elm Avenue and Fayette Street in Portsmouth. The group most recently dealt crack cocaine around an intersection across the street from Brighton Elementary School in Portsmouth. In August 2015, the Portsmouth Police Department conducted 17 controlled purchases of crack cocaine from members of the organization.
Stephenson dealt over one kilogram of crack cocaine between December 2014 and October 2015, when he was arrested for beating a woman who stole his drug stash. Gray, an affiliate of the Corna Sto Boys, dealt over one half kilogram of crack cocaine over the year prior to his arrest. Three other members of the group have pleaded guilty in federal court and are awaiting sentencing.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Field Division; John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Tonya D. Chapman, Chief of the Portsmouth Police Department; and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew C. Bosse and Joseph E. DePadilla, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler, prosecuted the cases.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:16-cr-16 and 2:16-cr-19.