Greenville, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated that Steven Ray Garner, age 44, of Gaffney, was sentenced in federal court to 60 months imprisonment with 3 years of supervised release to follow. Garner previously pled guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). United States District Judge Bruce H. Hendricks imposed the sentence.
Evidence presented in court established that on Jan. 22, 2017 a deputy with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office was on routine patrol and noticed Garner and another individual sitting in a vehicle parked in front of a vacant house. The deputy recognized the person in the passenger seat as someone with outstanding warrants and took that individual into custody.
The deputy then patted down Garner to check him for weapons. During that search, the deputy located a loaded Colt.357 magnum in Garner’s waistband. A check of NCIC revealed that the gun had been reported stolen out of Spartanburg County. Garner was also found to be in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine.
Further NCIC check revealed that Garner had been previously convicted of second degree burglary (violent) in 2002 and manufacturing methamphetamine in 2012 and was thus prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms and ammunition.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001. Assistant United States Attorney Sloan Ellis of the Greenville office prosecuted the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
