Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Tyler Scott Gurley, age 26, of Anderson, pled guilty in federal court in Greenville to felon in possession of a firearm. United States District Judge Bruce H. Hendricks accepted the plea and will impose sentence after United States Probation prepares a pre-sentence report. Gurley faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on Jan. 11, 2017, a deputy with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) conducted a traffic stop on a car driven by Gurley. A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of a Glock 9mm caliber pistol along with a clear, crystal like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Gurley told ACSO that the suspected methamphetamine and the pistol belonged to him.
Gurley was arrested federally as 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 ACSO and ATF, Real Time’s core partners include the Greenville Police Department, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, 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, FBI, DEA, the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Since August of 2015, the initiative has resulted in the expedited federal prosecution of over 120 defendants and seizure of over 160 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 Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and ATF investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Max Cauthen is prosecuting the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
