‘Biggest’ dealer in NC county who broke out of Va. prison gets 25 years for selling fentanyl, cocaine, and crack

Joe Jurney
·3 min read
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‘Biggest’ dealer in NC county who broke out of Va. prison gets 25 years for selling fentanyl, cocaine, and crack

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A felon who bragged about being the “biggest” drug dealer in Robeson County has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Bruce Carroll Callahan, Jr., 45, aka “Hoss,” conspired to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine sourced from Honduras and Mexico in Eastern North Carolina, according to Michael Easley, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Callahan claimed to have access to over 20 kilograms of narcotics at any time, Easley said.

While awaiting trial and prior to his Sept. 26 guilty plea, Callahan escaped from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, where he was being held.

He was discovered missing on May 1 and apprehended on May 9 just a few miles on the campus of Longwood University from the jail. Callahan was convicted for his prison escape and sentenced to 20 months in custody followed by three years of supervised release.

He escaped the prison along with Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo who is charged with murder in the August 2022 death of Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy Ned Byrd.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office and ATF launched an investigation into Callahan and his drug trafficking operation in 2021 after receiving numerous community reports that he was selling drugs in the Fairmont area of Robeson County, Easley said. During the summer of 2021, investigators conducted two controlled purchases of cocaine and crack from Callahan’s residence.

In September 2021, law enforcement arranged for a controlled purchase of two kilograms of fentanyl from Callahan.

Callahan’s Honduran suppliers arranged for co-defendants Rony Lardi-Ortiz and Jefferson Marin Funez to deliver the fentanyl to Callahan’s Fairmont residence on Sept. 16, 2021. Lardi-Ortiz and Funez have previously pled guilty and sentenced to 10 years and 10 1/2 years respectively for their role in the conspiracy.

After Callahan received the two kilograms of fentanyl from Lardi-Ortiz and Funez, they left Callahan’s residence, traveling north on Interstate 95 to deliver the fentanyl.

Deputies conducted a traffic stop on their vehicle. Though Callahan and his co-defendants attempted to jump out of the vehicle and flee, they were quickly apprehended. Investigators found the two kilograms of fentanyl sitting on the back seat in Callahan’s vehicle, Easley said.

A search warrant was then executed at Callahan’s residence where a quantity of cocaine and cocaine base were seized along with items used to package drugs for sale and a .45 caliber handgun.

Callahan pled guilty to the following:

  • conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and crack;

  • possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl; and

  • two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Callahan’s prior felony convictions include a 2003 federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon in addition to several convictions in Robeson County Superior Court for felonious assaults, trafficking cocaine, and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

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