"Operation Real Time": Greenville Man Enters Guilty Plea in Federal Court on Gun Charges

Contact Person: Lance Crick (864) 282-2100

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Joshua Shane Verdin, age 32, of Greenville, pled guilty today in federal court in Greenville, to felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1) as well as possession of a firearm and ammunition after a previous conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922g(9).  United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks, of Charleston, accepted the plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
 
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing this morning established that on January 13, 2017, members of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) were attempting to locate two wanted persons at a residence in Landrum, South Carolina, when they encountered Verdin.  Deputies observed Verdin placing his hands near his waistband prompting them to ask if Verdin had a gun.  Verdin told the deputies that he had a pistol in his waistband.  One of the responding deputies, who knew Verdin to be a prohibited felon from prior interaction with Verdin, removed the loaded 9mm pistol and placed Verdin in handcuffs.

Verdin faces up to ten years in federal prison for the offense and remains in federal custody. 

The case was investigated by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).  First Assistant United States Attorney Lance Crick handled the case.

Verdin was arrested federally as a part of “Operation Real Time.”  The goal of this program is to identify individuals for federal prosecution with significant criminal histories who continue to actively possess firearms in the Upstate community. 

In addition to the GCSO, the SCSO, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Real Time’s core partners include the Greenville Police Department, the Anderson City Police Department, the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Attorney’s Office. 

Since August of 2015, the initiative has resulted in the expedited federal prosecution of some 97 defendants and seizure of approximately 130 firearms as well as assorted ammunition from prohibited persons.

U.S. Attorney Beth Drake commended the partnership between the local, state, and federal agencies that led to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Attorney’s Office adopting the case, “We work best when we work together.  This ‘real time’ identification of high risk offenders is smart policing, and we welcome the opportunity to work alongside our state chiefs and sheriffs in taking violent repeat offenders out of our communities.”

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