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Press Release

Lexington Man Gets 8 Years in Federal Prison on 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 Jason Cory Dix, age 42, of Lexington, was sentenced to 99 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia imposed the sentence. After 99 months, Dix will remain under court-ordered supervision for an additional 3 years. There is no parole in the federal system. 

Evidence presented in court established that on June 8, 2018, a Deputy with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department was working patrol and turned into a gas station on South Lake Drive in Lexington. As he turned into the parking lot, he saw a black SUV waiting to exit the lot. The driver, later identified as Dix, quickly grabbed his seatbelt and fastened it, and as Deputy Smith drove past Dix he could not see a tag affixed to the rear of the SUV. As Deputy Smith turned around, he saw the SUV traveling at a high rate of speed and then run the red light at the intersection of Southwood Drive and Old Orangeburg Road. The Deputy activated his blue lights and siren to initiate a traffic stop, but Dix failed to stop. Dix reached speeds of 104 mph before colliding with another vehicle, the driver of which was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. When the Deputy searched the SUV, a Ruger P-89 9mm and two loaded magazines were found in the floorboard of the vehicle. Dix admitted that the firearm and ammunition were his.    

Federal law prohibits Dix from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon multiple prior state convictions: a 1996 assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a 1998 possession of crack cocaine, three counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle in 1999, a 2005 manufacturing methamphetamine and trafficking methamphetamine, and a 2016 manufacturing methamphetamine 2nd offense.  Dix was on probation at the time of the June 18, 2018, offense.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. It was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local 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.  Special Assistant United States Attorney Casey Rankin Smith of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecuted the case.

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Contact

Lance Crick (864) 282-2105

Updated September 25, 2019

Topics
Firearms Offenses
Project Safe Neighborhoods