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Description: Columbia, South Carolina criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
On September 17, 2021, deputies with the Richland County Sheriff's Department initiated a traffic stop on Bullock’s vehicle. However, as the officer approached the vehicle, Thomas Lashort Bullock, age 33, from Columbia, South Caroline, pulled away and jumped the center curb into oncoming traffic in order to evade the stop. During the vehicle pursuit which followed, Bullock entered a neighborhood, where the officer observed Bullock toss a pistol out the vehicle’s driver side window. Bullock subsequently came to a stop and surrendered to officers. Bullock, who was on supervised release for a prior federal gun conviction, was in possession of a Francolin International Arms 12-gauge shotgun, a loaded Beretta 9mm pistol, and various quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl, which he intended to distribute.
Bullock was detained without bond and pleaded guilty to three counts of the indictment. Bullock’s criminal history includes prior state convictions for assault and battery and burglary, as well as a prior federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie sentenced Bullock to 135 months in federal prison to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. Bullock was also sentenced to an additional ten months of imprisonment to run consecutively for his violations of the terms of his supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
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.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elle E. Klein prosecuted the case.
18 U.S.C. 922 (g)(1) provides:
(g) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) who is a fugitive from justice;
(3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
(4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
(5) who, being an alien—
(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
(B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
(6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;
(8) who is subject to a court order that—
(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
(B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and
(C)(i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or
(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
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Outcome: Defendant is committed to the custody of the BOP for 135 months, consisting of 75 months as to counts 1 and 2, to run concurrently, and 60 months as to count 3, to run consecutively, with the Court's recommendations that he be evaluated for participation in the RDAP program, that he be housed at a facility as close to home as possible, that he receive mental health treatment while incarcerated, and that he be allowed to participate in a CDL program and a masonry program while incarcerated. Upon release from imprisonment the defendant shall be on supervised release for 3 years as to each count 1-3, to run concurrently, with standard and special conditions to include participation in a vocational services program, mental health treatment, substance abuse testing, and he shall take all prescribed mental health medications. Special Assessment of $300.00 due immediately. Property outlined in the Preliminary Forfeiture Order is hereby forfeited.
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