Tabor City Man Sentenced on Charge for Felon in Possession of a Firearm

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that in federal court, United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced BRIAN DAVID RIGGINS, 26, from Tabor City, North Carolina, to 84 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. 

RIGGINS was charged in an indictment filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina June 6, 2018.  On August 23, 2018 RIGGINS pled guilty to the Indictment, which charged him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

RIGGINS was charged as a result of an incident that took place on September 7, 2017, when RIGGINS was identified as the driver of a stolen vehicle in the Green Acres community of Columbus County, North Carolina.  When law enforcement officers activated their lights, RIGGINS attempted to flee by engaging in a high speed chase throughout the residential community.  RIGGINS then fled on foot, dropping a Taurus .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and a bag containing 2.6 grams of crack cocaine.  He was quickly apprehended, and law enforcement identified the handgun as stolen.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Since 2017 the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

That effort has been implemented through the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, Horry County (South Carolina) Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney Laura Howard prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.