William Otis "Bill" Wheeler, a former high-ranking officer within the Northampton County Sheriff's Office, as well as a former officer in Halifax County, died today.

Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith said Wheeler died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He said the sheriff's office received a call around 10:30 this morning to respond to his home outside Jackson.

Federal court records as well as a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh confirmed that Wheeler was scheduled to appear in federal court in New Bern at 1:30 today for sentencing in a weapons case.

He faced a maximum of 10 years imprisonment on each of the two counts he pled guilty to along with a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release.

He pled guilty to possession of a stolen firearm and the sale of a stolen firearm last year after a federal grand jury returned a true bill of indictment for one count of possession of stolen firearms and two counts of sale of stolen firearms.