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Tag: Gaston County

  • Father-son duo sentenced for trafficking drugs to NC while inside federal prison

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    The Charles R. Jonas Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse

    The Charles R. Jonas Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse


    Francis Dzikowski

    While in federal prison, a father and son schemed to sell and ship drugs to North Carolina. Now, they’ll spend an additional 6 1/2 years locked up.

    Jose Burgueno-Luna and his father, Jose Burgueno-Urias, were in federal prison when Burgueno-Luna told an undercover agent he had 2,000 pills he wanted to send to North Carolina, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

    Burgueno-Luna pleaded guilty — without a plea deal— to conspiracy to possess and distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine and distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine in February last year. U.S. District Judge Susan Rodriguez said he could be deported after serving his sentence.

    His father, Burgueno-Urias, pleaded guilty to distribution of methamphetamine in a plea deal in January last year.

    Both were sentenced on Tuesday to 78 months to be added to their current sentences.

    Drug trafficking inside federal prison

    It is unclear what charges the two were serving time for when they were charged with trafficking drugs inside prison.

    Burgueno-Luna spoke to the undercover agent for about two months while incarcerated in early 2023 and successfully sent 2,000 pills of fentanyl and nearly 900 grams of pure methamphetamine to Cherryville and Gaston County, court documents say.

    Prison officials seized the cell phone he was using to coordinate with the agent while the two were on a phone call regarding payment for the drugs on April 20, 2023.

    Burgueno-Urias two days later called the same undercover agent to try to collect payment. He also offered the agent more drugs, according to court documents.

    The pills shipped to Cherryville, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte, contained a total of about 155 grams of fentanyl, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department lab tests. Just two grams of the synthetic opioid, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, can kill an adult.

    Burgueno-Luna’s court-appointed attorney, Mekka Jeffers-Nelson, told Rodriguez on Tuesday morning that he had completed more than 480 courses while being held in a Catawba County jail for these charges. They included rehabilitation courses, math courses and courses on the health effects of opioid addiction and how it affects society.

    Through a Spanish interpreter, Burgueno-Luna told the judge he was sorry for his “unacceptable behavior” and apologized to his family, who were not in court.

    “Gracias señor,” Rodriguez said before sentencing him. “Buena suerte.”

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  • Two hospitalized after fire breaks out at home owned by NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin

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    A Gaston County home owned by NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin caught on fire Sunday afternoon, leaving two people hospitalized.

    Chief David Toomey of the Lucia Riverbend Fire Department did not identify the individuals, but neighbors confirmed to WSOC that Hamlin’s parents lived at the home. Public records show the home is owned by Hamlin’s real estate company, Won One Real Estate, WCNC reported.

    Firefighters got a call about the fire at the single family home on Blacksnake Road in Stanley at 6:19 p.m. Ten different fire departments were at the scene fighting the flames, according to WSOC.

    When first responders arrived, the home was nearly halfway gone. It took nearly two hours for the fire to be put out because this part of Stanley does not have fire hydrants, Toomey told WSOC.

    “Well this house was about 40-45% involved when we got here. Of course where we are located there are no hydrants, so all the water had to be trucked in and there were times we would run out of water and we had to wait for more water to get here,” Toomey told WSOC’s Glenn Counts. “We had to call for more, additional tankers throughout the county.”

    Toomey told The Athletic that firefighters were able to save racing memorabilia inside the home and “some really expensive cars.”

    Hamlin, in addition to competing as a driver in NASCAR, is a team owner with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Earlier this month, their team settled a multimillion antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR.

    This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 10:24 AM.

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    Briah Lumpkins

    The Charlotte Observer

    Briah Lumpkins is the emerging news reporter for the Charlotte Observer. In this role, she finds important and impactful enterprise stories impacting the Charlotte-metro region. Most previously, Briah spent time in Houston, Texas covering underrepresented suburban communities at the Houston Landing. Prior to that, she spent a year at the Charleston Post and Courier for an investigative reporting fellowship through FRONTLINE PBS. When she’s not at work you can find her binge reading on her kindle or at the movie theater watching the latest premieres.

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  • 2 hurt in fire at NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s parents’ home in Gaston County

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    Two people were hospitalized in a fire at a Gaston County home belonging to the parents of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin. 

    WCNC Charlotte reported that the fire happened at a home on Blacksnake Road northeast of Stanley late Sunday night. Two people were taken to the hospital from the scene, and WCNC has not received updates on their conditions as of 6:40 a.m. Monday. 

    The fire resulted in the complete loss of the home, according to the Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department. It took around two hours to put out the fire due to a lack of water in the area.

    The fire chief said the home belongs to the parents of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin.

    Read the full story on WCNC.

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  • Mannington shuts McAdenville yarn plant in Gaston County NC

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    A flooring manufacturer is shutting down its Gaston County factory, laying off almost 300 employees right after Christmas.

    New Jersey-based Mannington Mill is closing its McAdenville plant on Dec. 27, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filed recently with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. All 296 employees will be laid off permanently.

    The site was the former Pharr plant, a McAdenville-based yarn manufacturer, which started in 1939. Pharr left the yarn business in 2020, selling the company to Mannington Mill.

    Pharr also sold a portion of its company to the London-based Coats Group, which also laid off 41 employees at its McAdenville facility in 2023.

    Mannington manufactures flooring product such as hardwood, laminate and vinyl for residential and commercial uses. It also produced residential carpeting, until now.

    The closure is part of Mannington’s move to exit the residential carpet business due to decline in demand and unfavorable market conditions, according to a LinkedIn post.

    “The continued consumer shift to resilient flooring has forced us to reevaluate residential carpet in our portfolio,” Mannington CEO Tom Pendley said in the post. “This has led us to make the difficult decision to exit residential carpet.”

    The company will focus on its residential hard surface options.

    The McAdenville facility is one of three that will be closing. The others are located in Dalton and Chatsworth, Georgia. More than 200 people will also be laid off at those facilities.

    The company is still taking carpet orders until Dec. 1, according to its website. It will also continue to honor its warranties.

    McAdenville is going to be hit with nearly 300 layoffs at a local mill right after Christmas.
    McAdenville is going to be hit with nearly 300 layoffs at a local mill right after Christmas. Town of McAdenville

    About Mannington Mill

    The floor manufacturer opened in 1915 in Salem, New Jersey. In 2020, Mannington entered the residential carpet industry, purchasing Pharr Fibers and Yarns in McAdenville and Phenix Flooring in Dalton. Two years later, it bought Georgia Carpet Finishers in Chatsworth.

    All three facilities will be closed by 2026.

    Mannington will still produce carpets for commercial properties. Yarn processing operations in McAdenville will be transitioned to Mannington’s site in Calhoun, Georgia.

    Mannington may fill open roles at that facilities with the laid-off employees. It’s unclear if that will include the McAdenville workers.

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  • Summer heat adds extra risk for homeless communities

    Summer heat adds extra risk for homeless communities

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    GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — With heat advisories across the state, health experts say outside workers and vulnerable communities are more likely to be impacted by heat-related illnesses and death.

    What You Need To Know

    2023 is one of the hottest years on record, and Spectrum meteorologists say 2024 is on pace to keep up with that trend

    Heat-related illnesses were three times as likely in July and August of 2023, compared to in May, June and September, according to the CDC

    Vulnerable communities are more likely to be impacted by heat-related illnesses

    Those living outside say rechargeable fans and ways to hydrate are helpful in these summer conditions


    According to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), outside workers, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions are more sensitive to the heat.

    The report shows that 92% of all emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses in 2023 happened between May and September. The emergency room visits were three times as likely to happen in July and August.

    Spectrum News 1 meteorologists say 2023 was one of the hottest years in recorded history, and 2024 is on track to keep up with that trend. 

    People who live outside, in encampments and in homes without air conditioning are also more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

    Dave and his wife have been living in a camp in Gaston County for six years, after a new landlord increased their rent to a figure the couple could no longer afford.

    “It’s unbearable…being out in the heat,” said Dave, who did not want to share his last name. “No way to really take showers or anything.”

    He and his wife look for places in the shade, where they can recharge their portable fans and hydrate.

    “You can always put on more clothes, you can always find ways to cover up and keep warm, but you can never find enough ways to stay cool,” said Dave.

    Dallas High Shoals Christian Ministry offers a hot meal and two bags of essentials a week to those who need it.

    Executive Director Leah Hedgpath says fans and jugs of water are often what they get asked for. 

    “It extends more than just someone who doesn’t have a home. We have several that have a shelter, but that’s all that it is,” said Hedgpath. “They don’t have running water. They don’t have electricity. They don’t have a way of cooking their food, storing their food, cleaning properly and so they kind of fall in that category of needing these types of items as well.” 

    Dave says cold water and ice is what they need to help stay hydrated this summer. 

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    Alexis Bell

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