Allyson Kerri Peace, 24, of Vale, was sentenced to serve seven to 10 years in prison following her conviction for trafficking fentanyl by possession and conspiracy to traffick fentanyl during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
The Honorable Sherri W. Elliott, Superior Court Judge from Catawba County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Peace entered the guilty plea. The defendant also was assessed a mandatory fine of $100,000.
Peace will serve her prison term in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
Catawba County Sheriff’s Office investigators were notified on August 5, 2025, that Peace and a co-defendant were going to Charlotte to pick up drugs. Camera alerts and phone pings showed them making the trip to and from Charlotte, and Peace was identified as the driver of the vehicle.
Surveillance of the vehicle continued as it returned to Catawba County, and a traffic stop was made. A K-9 unit alerted to the presence of narcotics.
A search of the occupants and vehicle led to the recovery of paraphernalia. A short distance away, a dry gray bag tied in a knot was found lying in wet grass. It contained a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for fentanyl. Both suspects denied knowledge of the drugs.
Later, the co-defendant told authorities that Peace handed him the bag and told him to throw it out the window when they saw blue lights for the traffic stop. He indicated they had stopped on their way to Charlotte to pick up money from a third party to make a purchase.
During her interview, Peace also admitted to giving the co-defendant the bag and having him toss it out the window. She also indicated that the third individual was waiting for them to receive drugs they brought back from Charlotte.
The State Crime Lab confirmed the substances from the bag to be a trafficking amount of fentanyl.
Cases for the co-defendants are still pending. They are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Samuel Helms handled the investigation for the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant District Attorney Kyle Smith prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Amy Bishoff.