Federal Judge Sentences South Carolina Man To Prison For Unlawful Possession Of A Firearm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A South Carolina man was sentenced today to 52 months in prison for a firearms violation, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.   In addition to the prison term handed down by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr., Buster Marshall, 44, of Fort Mill, S.C. was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release.  Marshall pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. Marshall’s previous felony convictions prohibit him from possessing a firearm.    

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by C.J. Hyman, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division; Chief Rob Hunter of the Matthews Police Department; Sheriff Eddie Cathey of the Union County Sheriff’s Office; and Chief J. Bryan Gilliard of the Monroe Police Department.

According to filed court documents and statements made in court, on March 25, 2015, Marshall confronted his ex-girlfriend at the parking lot of a fast food restaurant located in Matthews, N.C. Court records show that when the woman refused to speak with Marshall, he pulled out a revolver, pointed it at her and pulled back the hammer.  When Marshall’s ex-girlfriend called 9-1-1, Marshall drove off in his car.  According to court records, law enforcement attempted to pull over Marshall’s vehicle, but Marshall eluded the officers driving at high speed, eventually striking another vehicle in Monroe, N.C.  Court records indicate that after hitting the other car, Marshall fled from law enforcement on foot with the silver revolver tucked in his waistband.  Marshall then unsuccessfully tried to take another vehicle and he was arrested by law enforcement shortly thereafter.

Marshall has been in federal custody since July 2015 and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was handled by ATF, the Matthews Police Department, the Union County Sheriff’s Office and the Monroe Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Randall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte was in charge of the prosecutions.