Columbia Man Sentenced to Over 3 Years in Federal Prison for Unlawful Possession of Firearms

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Tavares Antonio Cromer, age 25, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced to over three years in federal prison after pleading guilty in December 2018 to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Evidence presented in court established that on March 9, 2018, Columbia Police Department officers stopped a vehicle on Bailey Street to investigate suspicious activity. Officers could smell marijuana as they approached the vehicle, and a small amount of marijuana was seen in a glass jar on the front seat. During a search of the vehicle’s glove compartment, three loaded firearms were found. One of the firearms was reported stolen out of Rock Hill. Cromer claimed possession of the firearms, which he had placed inside the glove box immediately prior to the traffic stop.

Federal law prohibits Cromer from possessing firearms based on 2014 convictions for assault and battery by mob 3rd degree, assault and battery 1st degree, and strong arm robbery.      

United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia, accepted Cromer’s guilty plea and sentenced him to 40 months in federal prison, followed by a term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Assistant United States Attorneys William E. Day, II, and Christopher D. Taylor of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Columbia Police Department.  It was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases.  Project CeaseFire is South Carolina’s implementation of 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.

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