Charleston, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Derrick Joy, Jr., 30, of North Charleston, South Carolina, was sentenced to over four years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, on Dec. 26, 2017, a North Charleston police officer saw Joy rolling a marijuana blunt in his vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store. The officer surprised Joy, removed him from the vehicle, and placed him under arrest. A 9mm pistol loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition was discovered between the driver's seat and the driver's side door of Joy’s car. The gun had been reported stolen. Because Joy has previously been convicted of multiple felonies and crimes of domestic violence, federal law prohibits him from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
Joy pled guilty to the firearm count, and United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced him to 50 months in federal prison to be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the North Charleston Police Department. It 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 Chris Schoen of the Charleston office prosecuted the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
