Florence Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun and Drug Charges

Florence, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Chadrick Letran James, 29, of Florence, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. 

Evidence presented to the court showed that on September 1, 2017, a corporal with the Florence Police Department conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle James was driving.  The corporal could smell an odor of marijuana coming from both James and the vehicle.  James admitted to smoking marijuana and having marijuana in the vehicle’s cup holder.  A search of the vehicle also revealed a plastic bag in the driver’s side door believed to be used to package narcotics and a book bag that contained several bags of marijuana, a bottle of crack cocaine, a bag of cocaine, a set of digital scales, and a Smith and Wesson, model SW40VE, .40 caliber pistol loaded with 14 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. 

James faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.  United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell accepted the guilty plea and will sentence James after receiving and reviewing a presentence report prepared by the United States Probation Office. 

The charges against James were the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Florence Police Department.  This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases.  Project CeaseFire is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a crime reduction strategy originally launched in 2001 that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Turning the tide of rising violent crime in America is a top priority for the Department of Justice, which has reinstituted PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy.  Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Hummel of the Florence office is prosecuting the case. 

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