Columbia, South Carolina-----The United States Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) are continuing their partnership with the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) to keep guns out of the hands of former offenders.
The project is called “Real-Time Reentry" and focuses on violent offenders and gang members who re-offend with firearms while still under SCDC’s Intensive Supervision Services after being released. Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) and law enforcement officials visit with Youthful Offenders in prison to educate them about the opportunities and resources they have to lead productive and successfully rehabilitated lives upon release. If caught with a firearm or ammunition, however, the individual will be taken into custody immediately and their case will be referred to ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s office in “real time" for federal review and prosecution in federal court, where firearms-related sentences for repeat-offenders are more considerable.
AUSAs and representatives of SCDC were at Trenton Correctional Institution yesterday, Tuesday, March 21, at 11am, for their regularly scheduled “Real-Time Reentry" visit with Youthful Offenders.
“Because of their criminal records, Youthful Offenders in the state system have created future exposure for themselves, in the federal system, if they are ever found in possession of a firearm," said Beth Drake, United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina. USA Drake further observed, “We want these young South Carolinians to know that they are prohibited as felons from possessing firearms, and to further incentivize good choices and lawful behavior."
The “Real-Time Reentry" partnership, which began in December 2015, is an iteration of Project Real Time, an initiative launched in the upstate in August 2015 under the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Project Cease Fire program. Project Cease Fire brings together local, state, and federal law enforcement with the community. The collective efforts of this partnership encourage cooperation in a shared goal to make South Carolina safer by reducing gun violence, arrests, and incarceration. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
