Ex-cop who exposed undercover CMPD officer sentenced for lying during gun purchase
A former Gastonia police officer committed a “betrayal of society” when she skirted around the legal gun-buying process, a judge said before sentencing Xana Dayanae Dove in Charlotte’s federal court Tuesday.
Dove previously pleaded guilty to 12 felonies in Gaston County related to illegally accessing police computer systems.
She was sentenced to “basically time served” on those state charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington said in court Tuesday. Now, after working in a warehouse for more than year, she’ll spend the next 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to a federal felony: giving false statements while buying a gun.
According to court documents, Dove told Belmont gun shop owners at Shooter Express that she was buying a Springfield Hellcat Pro 9mm pistol for herself. But the gun was for a friend who said he needed it for self defense, Dove’s court-appointed defense attorney, Rob Heroy, said.
Washington said that friend was an “illegal alien” here on an expired student visa.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell’s sentence fell three months below the minimum sentence recommended by U.S. sentencing guidelines. While Dove had undercut trust in law enforcement, she also spent the last year out of jail restarting her life and looking for jobs.
Dove’s supervisor of three months told Bell that she had made herself indispensable and was poised to be promoted to warehouse manager next month.
Previous charges for Gastonia police officer
Dove, now 29, joined the Gastonia Police Department in 2022 at 26 years old. She was the first in her family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, and she studied criminology.
Six months into the job as a police officer, prosecutors said, she leaked an undercover Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer’s information — including his photo — to the subject of his investigation. That incident tipped officers off, and Dove was later charged with the 12 counts in her state case.
Dove previously said she was manipulated by a drug dealer and “wasn’t trying to break the law.”
“I have had to completely rebrand my life and start from scratch,” she told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday in a statement. “That process has been humbling, but it has also made me stronger and more determined to do the right thing ... I believe in accountability, but I also believe in growth, second chances, and the ability for someone to rebuild their life after a mistake.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 5:45 PM.
