Greenville, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Johnny Ray Outz, age 26, of Greenville, South Carolina, pled guilty Monday in federal court in Greenville, to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 924c. United States District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs of Greenville accepted the plea and will impose sentence after a presentence report is prepared by U.S. Probation. Outz faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years and a maximum of life in federal prison.
Evidence presented by the government during the plea established that on March 25, 2017, members of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, pursuant to an outstanding warrant, were searching for Outz in Mauldin, South Carolina. When GCSO located Outz, a search of his person revealed a MAC 11 pistol and methamphetamine in a book bag he was carrying.
Outz was arrested federally as a part of “Operation Real-Time." The goal of this program is to identify individuals for federal prosecution with significant criminal histories who continue to actively possess firearms in the Upstate community.
In addition to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Real Time’s core partners include the Greenville Police Department, the Anderson Police Department, the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, United States Probation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office.
Since August of 2015, the initiative has resulted in the expedited federal prosecution of 118 defendants and seizure of approximately 162 firearms as well as assorted ammunition from prohibited persons.
U.S. Attorney Beth Drake commended the partnership between the state and federal agencies that led to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Attorney’s Office adopting the case, “We work best when we work together. This ‘real time’ identification of high risk offenders is smart policing, and we welcome the opportunity to work alongside our state chiefs and sheriffs in taking violent repeat offenders out of our communities."
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Max Cauthen. # #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
