Gray Court Felon Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge in Federal Court

Florence, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Derrick Bernard Cunningham, 48, of Gray Court, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

Evidence presented to the court showed that on May 26, 2018, a lieutenant with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) located Cunningham, who was wanted for outstanding warrants, at a hotel in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Cunningham was detained and placed in handcuffs, and the lieutenant noted that Cunningham continually tried to roll onto his left side.  The lieutenant observed a heavy object in a pocket of the vest Cunningham was wearing.  Cunningham claimed he did not know whether the object was a firearm and that he had borrowed the vest from a friend.  A search revealed the object was a Jiminez .380 caliber handgun, loaded with six rounds of ammunition.  Federal law prohibits Cunningham from possessing firearms because he has prior state convictions for grand larceny, burglary, and armed robbery.   

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

The charges against Cunningham were the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), SLED, and the North Myrtle Beach 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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