Raleigh man gets four decades in federal prison

After a two-day trial in November, a jury found Christopher Stephone Cobb, 26, guilty of two counts of possession with intent to distribute a cocaine base and one count each of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon.

After a 500-month imprisonment, Cobb faces five years of parole.

The charges stem from three encounters between Cobb and Raleigh police in October 2009 and January 2010.

A police officer testified that he recognized Cobb as an individual involved in a drug sale on Oct. 29, 2009. He said that when approached by officers, Cobb dropped his coat and tried to run but was arrested. Police said they found a pistol, ammunition and 4.4. grams of cocaine in his coat.

Prosecutors said that at the time, Cobb was also wanted on five warrants for failure to appear in court, including two involving assault on an officer.

Police said that Cobb was again arrested on Jan. 14, 2010, after an officer saw him involved in a drug sale. He was released from jail and, the next day, ran from officers who stopped his car. A K-9 unit eventually found him hiding in a dumpster, police said.

Officers said they seized crack cocaine and ammunition from his car.

State Department of Correction records show that Cobb has 15 convictions dating from 2000, including assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, possession of a firearm by a felon and three each for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping.

He served one 2½-year prison sentence and got 10 infractions during that time, including assaulting a person with a weapon and involvement with a gang.