Charleston Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Drug and Gun Offense

Charleston, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr., announced today that Sean Deandre Martin, 33, 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 to the court showed that on August 1, 2017, Martin was arrested after a gun and multiple types of narcotics were discovered in the car he was driving on Savannah Highway in West Ashley. Text messages on Martin’s cell phone confirmed that he was dealing drugs. Martin ultimately pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking on February 24, 2020.

United States District Judge David Norton sentenced Martin to 60 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Charleston Police Department.

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 Chris Schoen of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.

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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.