Columbia, SC 11/16/2021 (Paul Kirby) – An Aiken County man has been sentenced to ten years in a federal prison after he recently pled guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The announcement of his sentence was made by Acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart.
According to Dehart, 29-year-old Aaron Shawayne Griffin, 29, was stopped by a Lexington County sheriff deputy for speeding in September of 2018. As the deputy approached the passenger side of the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. During a search of the vehicle, deputies located a backpack containing a large amount of cash, over 800 grams of methamphetamine, and two firearm magazines loaded with .40 caliber ammunition and 9mm ammunition.
Griffin’s prior record includes a 2010 simple possession of marijuana and resisting arrest and a 2015 misprision of a felony. Griffin is a validated gang member and was on probation at the time of the offense.
United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs sentenced Griffin to 120 months in federal prison, to be followed by a five-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
The case was prosecuted as part of the as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Casey Rankin Smith prosecuted the case.
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