Drugs and Violence Result in 170 Month Federal Sentence for West Columbia Man

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Bradley Apollos Thompson, a/k/a “Kuntry,” age 28, of West Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to two counts of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer while resisting arrest and one count of aiding and abetting in a Hobbs Act robbery.  Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, of Columbia, sentenced Thompson to 170 months in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on February 5, 2017, Thompson, Tiffany Metze, and Noah Billie conspired to rob a local methamphetamine dealer named Bruce Hudson, a/k/a “Zues.”  The three conspirators met at a hotel near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport and discussed driving to Hudson’s home in Gaston, South Carolina, to commit the robbery.  After they discussed the details of the planned robbery, Thompson drove Metze and Thompson to Hudson’s home.  Metze lured Hudson to the front yard and after a brief discussion with him, Billie shot Thompson in the torso.  Thompson drove the conspirators away from the crime.  Deputies with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department responded to Hudson’s home and found him shot in the front yard.  Hudson was hospitalized for his injuries.

State warrants were obtained for Metze, Billie, and Thompson as a result of the above-referenced robbery.  On February 22, 2017, members of the United States Marshals Service Operation Intercept Fugitive Task Force located Thompson’s truck at a residence near Boiling Springs Road in Lexington.  Members of the task force positioned their vehicles in an attempt to prevent Thompson from leaving the residence.  When officers observed Thompson exit the residence with a female and get into the truck, they identified themselves and ordered Thompson to get out of the vehicle.  Thompson pushed the female out of the driver’s seat and attempted to escape.  During his escape attempt, he drove his vehicle in reverse and struck a vehicle driven by one of the Deputy Sheriffs assigned to the fugitive task force.  Thompson then placed his vehicle into drive and rammed a vehicle driven by a Deputy United States Marshal, who had taken up a blocking position in front of Thompson.  The Deputy was positioned in the apex of the driver’s door when Thompson rammed his vehicle.  The Deputy’s hands and feet were slammed in the doorframe when Thompson rammed his truck into the Deputy’s vehicle.  Thompson reversed and struck the Deputy’s vehicle a second time, again pinning the Deputy’s hands and feet.  Task Force members then fired on Thompson, striking him multiple times.  Both the Deputy and Thompson were transported to the Lexington Medical Center for injuries sustained during the arrest.  Both have recovered from their injuries.

The Court sentenced Thompson to 170 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.  Noah Billie was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison, followed by a term of supervised release of 5 years.  Finally, Metze was sentenced to 57 months, followed by a term of supervised release of 3 years.

The case was investigated by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, the Columbia Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the United States Marshals Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney JD Rowell of the Columbia office prosecuted the case. 

This case 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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