Hampton County Woman Sentenced in Drug Related Shooting

Contact Person: Nick Bianchi (843) 727-4381

Columbia, South Carolina -----United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Roqel Connors, age 23, of Garnett, South Carolina was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, for discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).  Senior United States District Judge Sol Blatt, Jr. of Charleston sentenced Connors to 10 years to be followed by 5 years supervised release.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on December 11, 2011, Connors arranged to sell marijuana to a man in Beaufort, SC.  As Connors was conducting the transaction with an individual in the back seat of a vehicle, an argument ensued and Connors fired her Glock handgun into the vehicle. The shot fired by Connors struck the driver of the vehicle, Mark Kevin Jones, in the back of the head, killing Jones.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive and Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Nick Bianchi of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.