Asheville Man Terrence Lucas Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to 13 Years, $1.25M Fines
Asheville man Terrence Antonio Lucas, 36, was sentenced to a combined minimum of 13 years and four months and ordered to pay $1.25 million after pleading guilty to multiple fentanyl and cocaine trafficking counts and a child-abuse misdemeanor.
Terrence Antonio Lucas, 36, pleaded guilty in Buncombe County Superior Court and was sentenced by Judge Jacqueline Grant to consecutive prison terms that total a combined minimum of 13 years and four months and $1.25 million in fines. The judge imposed the sentences following two separate 2025 investigations that netted large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine.
Prosecutors said Lucas entered guilty pleas to three counts of trafficking in opium or heroin, two counts of trafficking in cocaine and one misdemeanor count of child abuse stemming from incidents in May and September 2025. The May incident and the September arrest produced the trafficking charges later filed in Buncombe County Superior Court.
On May 17, 2025, Asheville Police Department personnel seized 110 grams of fentanyl in an investigation that led to trafficking charges linked to Lucas. For the May 17 offense Judge Grant sentenced Lucas to a term of 90 to 120 months in prison and imposed a $750,000 fine as part of the court’s disposition.
A separate Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office investigation on Sept. 8, 2025, resulted in the seizure of 75 grams of fentanyl and 30 grams of cocaine and Lucas’s subsequent arrest. Investigators reported a minor was present near the narcotics during the September arrest, which prompted the misdemeanor child-abuse count. For the Sept. 8 offense Judge Grant imposed a consecutive term of 70 to 93 months and an additional $500,000 fine.
Prosecutors told the court that Lucas has multiple prior felony drug convictions, a prior conviction for felony common law robbery and a prior misdemeanor conviction for assault on a female. Local reporting states Lucas will serve both sentences in the North Carolina Department of Corrections; the court record shows the two terms were ordered to run consecutively, producing the 160-month minimum.
Local coverage of the hearing included a photo credited to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. The sentencing took place Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2026, when Judge Grant entered the consecutive prison terms and the $1.25 million total in fines against Lucas.
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