Berkeley County Man Sentenced to 20 Years In Federal Court for Drug Charges

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Rico Reid, a/k/a “Deuce”, age 41, of Berkeley County, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court yesterday in Charleston, South Carolina, for (1) Using and Carrying a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (2) Possession with Intent to Distribute and Distribute of Heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), and (3) Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).  Senior United States District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy, of Charleston, sentenced Reid to twenty years’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release,   

Evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that in 2016 and 2017, agents conducted an undercover operation during which they made several purchases of firearms and heroin from Reid.  Reid was previously convicted of several crimes punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year and was therefore prohibited from carrying a firearm.

Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis stated, “With the assistance of the ATF and U.S. Attorney’s Office, a major player around the Goose Creek area in the gun and narcotics trade has been removed from society.  This 20-year federal sentence should send a strong message to the criminal element.”                

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with the assistance of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Limehouse and Sean Kittrell of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.

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