NC trooper sold guns to felon, FBI says

Guy Lucas, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Jul. 9—GUILFORD COUNTY — A Guilford County-based N.C. State Highway Patrol trooper is accused of selling guns and ammunition to a man he knew was a convicted felon.

Timothy Jay Norman, 47, of Browns Summit not only sold pistols and military-style AR-15 rifles emblazoned with the Highway Patrol's name and badge to Tommy Lee Hudson, 33, of Reidsville, as well as to other people, he sometimes did it while on duty and in uniform, dealing the weapons from the trunk of his patrol car, according to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Phillip Spainhour released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Norman and Hudson were arrested Wednesday on federal firearms charges.

Hudson had been convicted in 2016 on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. As a convicted felon, he could not legally own or possess any firearms.

The Raleigh Police Department notified the FBI in April that Hudson, who was a subject of a drug trafficking investigation, had introduced a police informant to Norman and described Norman as his supplier of firearms and ammunition.

Hudson told the informant that the ammunition available through Norman was what law enforcement officers used, which is heavier and deadlier than what is available commercially to the public, the affidavit said.

During the course of the investigation, Norman sold guns and ammunition to either Hudson or the informant three times while the FBI monitored the purchases, the affidavit said. The second time was at Norman's house, and Norman was in uniform and drove up in his patrol car. The third time, Norman was on duty and met the informant outside a burned-out business in Greensboro.

Norman also offered to sell the informant a device for $250 that would allow an AR-15 to shoot rapidly, almost like a fully automatic machine gun, the affidavit said.

Hudson told the informant that he and Norman had known each other for more than 10 years and had partied and used marijuana and cocaine together before Norman became a trooper, the affidavit said. Hudson and Norman also had gone through basic law enforcement training in 2010.

Norman is charged with unlawful transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Hudson is charged with felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, he also faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.