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Press Release

Lancaster Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm Charge

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

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Quavis Jamar Rudisell, 29, of Lancaster, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Evidence presented in court established that during the early morning hours of September 6, 2018, deputies with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department responded to a residence on Providence Road after receiving a 911 call in regard to a theft of money. The residence advised that Rudisell had been a guest in the home, stolen approximately $1,300, and fled on a silver moped. Officers with the Lancaster Police Department located Rudisell on the moped and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Rudisell jumped off the moped and fled into nearby woods, where he was later captured. Officers located the stolen money on Rudisell, along with a magazine loaded with rounds of 9mm ammunition. Rudisell admitted to throwing the firearm down. Officers did a search of the area and recovered a 9mm handgun with a large-capacity magazine loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition.  He was arrested pursuant to a federal criminal complaint.

Rudisell is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon a prior state conviction for breach of trust with fraudulent intent more than $2,000 but less than $10,000 (2016) and a prior federal conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine (2011). Rudisell had been released from federal prison and was on federal supervised release at the time of the instant offense.

Rudisell faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and 3 years of supervised release on the felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition charge.  He also faces a revocation of his federal supervised release.

Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after he has received and reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the United States Probation Office. Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lancaster Police Department.  It is being 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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Contact

Lance Crick (864) 282-2105

Updated December 17, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods