Myrtle Beach Man Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Federal Prison on Gun Charge

Florence, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Jadarius Oshar McCray, 23, of Myrtle Beach, was sentenced to nearly 5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

Evidence presented to the court showed that on April 22, 2018, an officer with the Myrtle Beach Police Department responded to a 911 call about a man with a gun.  The caller described a subject who approached the caller and asked for money the subject thought the caller owed him.  When the caller told the subject he didn’t know the subject and didn’t owe him any money, the subject pointed a firearm at him and threatened him.  When a group of women walked through a nearby parking lot, the subject fled on foot.  An officer located McCray, who matched the subject’s description, walking in a parking lot near the incident location and told McCray to stop.  McCray turned around, looked at the officer, and then disappeared around a building corner for a few seconds before returning into the officer’s view.  Officers detained McCray and located an unloaded .380 caliber handgun in the brush directly behind where McCray had disappeared. 

Federal law prohibits McCray from possessing firearms and ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for pointing and presenting a firearm and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

United States District Judge Mary G. Lewis sentenced McCray to 57 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Myrtle Beach Police Department. 

This case 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.

Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Hummel of the Florence office prosecuted the case.

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