Loris Man Enters Guilty Plea in Federal Court on Drug Charges

Contact Person: Lance Crick (864) 282-2100

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Christian Alexander Gause, age 29, of Loris, pled guilty on Monday in federal court in Florence, to possession with intent to distribute heroin, marijuana, cocaine, cocaine base, and Alprazolam, a violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C).  United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence, accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
 
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on March 31, 2016, narcotics agents with Horry County Police Department executed a search warrant at Gause's home in Loris, South Carolina. Gause was arrested and agents seized 40 grams of heroin, 11 grams of crack cocaine, 13 grams of cocaine, a quantity of marijuana, and 54 Alprazolam tablets. The search was based on previous purchases of illegal narcotics from Gause at that location. At the time of his arrest, Gause was on federal supervised release for a prior offense for a federal gun violation.

Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty the defendant can receive is a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and fine of $250,000. 

The case was investigated by agents of the Horry County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Buddy Bethea of the Florence office handled the case.

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