Columbia Man Sentenced on Federal Drug and Gun Charges

COLUMBIA, South Carolina—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Derrick Johnson, a/k/a “Big D,” age 30, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court to 262 months’ imprisonment on charges of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of five grams or more of crack cocaine and felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. United States District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie also sentenced Johnson to eight years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

Evidence established that in June 2005, in the parking lot of a store on Beltline Boulevard in Columbia, Johnson and another individual sold 10.68 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant working with the FBI.

Later, Columbia Police apprehended Johnson in possession of a small quantity of drugs and a loaded .45 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number.

Johnson is prohibited under federal law from possessing a firearm or ammunition based upon his prior state convictions for possession with intent to distribute marijuana within the proximity of a school, failure to stop for a blue light and siren, possession of ecstasy, pointing and presenting a firearm, criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, criminal domestic violence third offense, and burglary second degree.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Violent Gang Task Force and the Columbia Police Department, and was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office handled the prosecution of the case.