STATESVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees sentenced yesterday James Holland Helms, 21, of Maiden, N.C., to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release on a firearms offense, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Tracy Ledford of the Maiden Police Department join U.S. Attorney Rose in making today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and yesterday’s sentencing hearing, on October 12, 2015, Maiden Police officers responded to a residential address in Maiden in reference to a report of shots being fired at the residence. Court records indicate that Helms fired multiple shots at the residence as he drove past the house in his vehicle.
Court records indicate that earlier in the evening Helms had engaged in a verbal altercation with individuals at the residence. Helms later drove his vehicle by the residence and fired several shots at the residence while individuals were standing on the front porch. According to court records, one of the individuals stated that Helms fired the gun and a bullet struck the door. After firing multiple shots at the residence, Helms sped off the scene, and, while driving, he threw the firearm out of the window. The firearm was recovered hours later by law enforcement investigating the incident. Court records also indicate law enforcement investigators identified two bullet holes in the victim’s residence and one in a vehicle parked in the driveway that resulted from Helms’ shooting. Helms was identified as the shooter and was taken into custody the day of the shooting. Helms has a previous criminal offense and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
In October 2016 Helms pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The FBI and the Maiden Police Department handled the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Randall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.