"Operation Real Time:" Spartanburg Felon Sentenced to 10 Years for Firearm Possession

Greenville, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Sherri Lydon stated today that Harvest Maurice Sloan, age 39, of Spartanburg, was sentenced in federal court in Greenville, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis of Columbia presided over the two-day trial in January and sentenced Sloan to ten years on the gun charge.

The government presented multiple witnesses during the course of the trial.  Witness testimony and the evidence presented by the government at trial established that on April 25, 2017, a Greenville police officer encountered the defendant, Harvest Maurice Sloan, at a car while the officer was investigating a stolen vehicle report. During a search of the car, police located a backpack containing a loaded Ruger 9mm pistol, along with additional 9mm ammunition from the front seat area of the car.

A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) retrieved calls made by Harvest Maurice Sloan from the Greenville County jail that contained conversations relating to the pistol recovered by police.

Sloan 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.

Since August of 2015, the initiative has resulted in the expedited federal prosecution of some 159 defendants and seizure of approximately 266 firearms as well as assorted ammunition from prohibited persons.

U.S. Attorney Lydon commended the partnership between the state and federal agencies that led to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney’s Office adopting the case, “We remain at the ready and are eager to continue and grow this effort—working alongside our state chiefs and sheriffs in taking violent repeat offenders out of our communities.”

The Greenville Police Department along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case and was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Max Cauthen in the Greenville U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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