Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated that Richard Herman Roach, III, age 28, of Camden, was sentenced in federal court after earlier pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). Senior United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, of Columbia, sentenced Roach to a total of 63 months imprisonment with 3 years of supervised release to follow. The sentence consists of 51 months imprisonment on the firearm charge and 12 months imprisonment, to be served consecutively, on a revocation of Roach’s 2010 federal drug conviction.
Evidence presented in court hearing established that at approximately 2:35 am on July 2, 2016, a deputy with the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department tried to stop a speeding vehicle on Highway 34. The vehicle failed to stop and a chase ensued with speeds up to 100 mph. After the driver lost control trying to make a turn and the vehicle ended up in a ditch, the deputy approached and noticed Roach, the driver and sole occupant, reaching underneath the seat. After removing Roach from the vehicle, the deputy found a loaded Ruger.45 caliber pistol in the front area of the vehicle and a small bag of marijuana in Roach’s front pants pocket. Roach was arrested on state charges. While in transport to the detention center, Roach escaped from deputies, but was apprehended shortly thereafter by a K-9 tracking team.
Roach is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon his prior federal conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 5 grams or more of crack cocaine and a prior state conviction for forgery. At the time of the July 2016, incident, Roach was on federal supervised release after previously serving a 60 months’ imprisonment sentence on the drug charge. Roach was released from federal prison in February 2015 and in November 2015, his federal supervised release was revoked and he was sent back to federal prison. He was released again from federal prison in May 2016, two months prior to this incident.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office 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
