Rogelia Vega Evans, 26, of Lexington, North Carolina was sentenced to 180 months in prison for engaging in sexual contact with a minor by force in Cherokee, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

John Edward Bradley, 50, of Cherokee, was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that a Cherokee County man pleaded guilty to intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. 

After pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault in federal court last August, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council Member Rep. Bo Crowe — who represents Wolfetown — has been sentenced to two years’ probation for an incident that occurred in January 2023.

Rachel Paige Crowe, 33, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison, five years of probation, $5,200 in fines and at least 15 years on the sex offender registry after pleading guilty to engaging in sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy on the Qualla Boundary in 2022. 

A Glenville man, angered by neighbors’ target practice and who, afterwards, fired four times into their residence, is now in state custody serving active prison time, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said. 

Eight people charged in Haywood County with trafficking and possessing illegal drugs are now serving active time in state prison, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said.

A Cherokee man will serve more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.