Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Anthony Leroy Doctor, a/k/a “Amp," age 26, of Columbia, South Carolina plead guilty today in federal court. Doctor plead guilty to being in possession of a stolen firearm and ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(j) and 924(a)(2). United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis of Columbia accepted the plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented in court established that shortly before midnight on June 7, 2015, Doctor and others became involved in a disturbance in the parking lot outside a nightclub located in a strip mall at Broad River Road and Rushmore Road in Columbia. Doctor was armed with a firearm and when confronted by club security, Doctor left the premises and discarded the firearm in some bushes along a parking lot behind a restaurant across from the club. Later, Doctor returned to the bushes and attempted to retrieve the firearm, but was asked to leave the premises by the restaurant security. Doctor continued to return to search the bushes and while Doctor was looking for the firearm in the bushes, a deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrived in response to the restaurant’s call about a suspicious person in their parking lot. When asked what he was doing, Doctor, without turning around, replied that he was looking for his gun. Doctor then turned around and noticed that the security guard had been joined by the Richland County deputy. Doctor, who was intoxicated, was placed in investigative detention while deputies searched for the firearm. Deputies called a K-9 to the scene. The K-9 performed an article search and retrieved the firearm from the bushes where Doctor had been searching earlier. Doctor, an admitted gang member, was placed under arrest for state weapon charge and disorderly conduct. The firearm, a Taurus 9mm handgun was loaded with one round of 9mm ammunition, and had previously been stolen in the fall of 2014 from a vehicle in Aiken. The case was referred to federal authorities for prosecution as Doctor, who was on state probation at the time, is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms and/or ammunition based upon his prior state felony convictions, which include carjacking, assault and battery with intent to kill, strong arm robbery, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime.
Doctor faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000 on the stolen firearm/ammunition charge. Doctor stipulated and agreed to imposition of the maximum 10 years imprisonment sentence as part of his federal plea agreement.
The case was investigated by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office handled the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
