Florence, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Derrick Bernard Cunningham, age 48, of Gray Court, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Chief United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence sentenced Cunningham to 27 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
Evidence presented at Cunningham’s guilty plea hearing established that on May 26, 2018, a lieutenant with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) located Cunningham, who was wanted for outstanding warrants, at a hotel in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Cunningham was detained and placed in handcuffs, and the lieutenant noted that Cunningham continually tried to roll onto his left side. The lieutenant observed a heavy object in a pocket of the vest Cunningham was wearing. Cunningham claimed he did not know whether the object was a firearm and that he had borrowed the vest from a friend. A search revealed a Jiminez.380 caliber handgun, loaded with six rounds of ammunition. Federal law prohibits Cunningham from possessing firearms because he has prior state convictions for grand larceny, burglary, and armed robbery.
The charges against Cunningham were the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), SLED, and the North Myrtle Beach Police Department. This case 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 crime reduction strategy originally launched in 2001 that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Turning the tide of rising violent crime in America is a top priority for the Department of Justice, which has reinstituted PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy. Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Hummel of the Florence office prosecuted the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
