CHARLESTON, SC—Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Edwin Donald Givens, age 51, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court after earlier pleading guilty to misprision of a felony in connection with a kickback scheme related to the 2011 South Carolina State University homecoming concert, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4.

United States District Judge David C. Norton sentenced Givens to six months’ probation. The Government recommended the probationary sentence because of Givens’ cooperation and substantial assistance in the case of United States v. Jonathon Pinson.

Evidence presented at the plea hearing established that Givens had actual knowledge of the commission of a federal felony offense involving the solicitation, receipt and payment of kickbacks by others involved with the concert, and that he failed to disclose such knowledge and took affirmative steps to conceal such information from federal law enforcement agents investigating the scheme, both prior to and during a November 14, 2011, interview with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS-CI). This case and its companion cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy C. Wicker, Jane B. Taylor, DeWayne Pearson and J.D. Rowell.