BEAUFORT, N.C. (WITN) – An Eastern Carolina man was sentenced to serve up to 23 years in state prison after a guilty plea to drug trafficking.

Carteret County District Attorney Scott Thomas says Patrick Arnold, of Morehead City, pled guilty to trafficking in fentanyl.

The D.A. says last fall deputies made a series of undercover buys from Arnold. Then on December 1st, they found methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana, diphenylprolinol, and a gun in the man’s vehicle.

A judge sentenced the 41-year-old Arnold to 18 to 23 years in prison.