Charleston Felon Sentenced to 60 Months Imprisonment for Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of Cocaine and Crack Cocaine Trafficking

Charleston, South Carolina --- Acting United States Attorney A. Lance Crick announced today that Ramone Baldwin, 25, of Charleston, was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Evidence presented at the change of plea and sentencing hearings established that on November 13, 2018, Charleston Police Department officers attempted to stop a car driven by Baldwin for traffic violations. The car fled, and the driver threw a bag out of the window. The officers retrieved the bag, which contained cocaine, crack cocaine, pills, and a loaded Springfield XD40 pistol. Other officers located the car and Baldwin. Further investigation located pictures of Baldwin with guns and showed the methods Baldwin used to advertise the sale of his drugs. Baldwin, who has been in custody since his arrest, was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his felony record.

United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced Baldwin to 60 months in federal prison, to be followed by a five-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the Charleston Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the Charleston office prosecuted this case.

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