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Press Release

Greenville Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina

Anderson, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Dominick Larenzo Johnson, 33, of Greenville, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in Anderson for being a felon in possession of a firearm. United States District Court Judge Timothy Cain of Anderson accepted Johnson’s guilty plea and sentenced him to 15 years in federal prison.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Evidence presented to the court showed that on September 8, 2016, a Greenville County Sheriff’s Deputy initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Johnson, but the vehicle fled. The vehicle was soon found abandoned, and deputies canvassed the area looking for Johnson. Witnesses informed deputies that Johnson had thrown an object into a dumpster as he ran by it. Deputies arrested Johnson as he ran from a nearby building and then recovered the object from the dumpster. The object, a backpack, contained a loaded 9mm pistol.

Federal law prohibits Johnson from possessing a firearm due to his prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine in 2005, and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine twice in 2016.

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case.  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.  Assistant United States Attorney Max Cauthen in the Greenville U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

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Contact

Lance Crick (864) 282-2105

Updated December 18, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods