A federal judge in New Bern sentenced Donquel Caron McEachern, 36, of Fayetteville, to over 17 years in federal prison for selling cocaine and fentanyl throughout Cumberland County, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

On June 18, 2026, McEachern pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 400 grams of fentanyl, over one pound of cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine and marijuana, prosecutors said. He also admitted possessing those drugs with intent to distribute and possessing a gun to assist his drug selling.

Law enforcement began investigating McEachern in 2023 as a major drug supplier in Fayetteville, the Justice Department said. Investigators determined that McEachern and members of his organisation used Airbnb rentals as 'trap houses' to store, prepare, package and distribute drugs. Wisevoter, reporting the same sentencing, gave the same plea date, the same drug amounts and the same Operation Gate Keeper description.

Source: Wisevoter

On November 6, 2024, investigators executed a search warrant at one Airbnb McEachern used and found approximately five pounds of cocaine, two pounds of fentanyl, 53 grams of crack cocaine, five guns and body armor, prosecutors said. After he moved to a new location, two more search warrants on May 1, 2025, at new Airbnb rentals seized more guns, fentanyl, cocaine and drug-trafficking paraphernalia, they said.

'McEachern built a drug selling business that pumped fentanyl, cocaine, and other deadly poison into Cumberland County while menacing folks with his guns at every turn,' U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said in the Justice Department release. 'Today's sentence reflects the gravity of his actions.'

The prosecution was part of Operation Gate Keeper, a component of the Homeland Security Task Force, prosecutors said. The DEA, Fayetteville Police Department and Hope Mills Police Department investigated the case, and U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan imposed the sentence.