On behalf of the United States Attorney’s Office (District of South Carolina)
United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr., announced today that Corey Kimani Sanders, 31, of Columbia, was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
Evidence presented to the court showed that early Sunday morning on September 15, 2019, officers with the Columbia Police Department responded to a “ShotSpotter” alert of numerous shots fired on the Oakland Avenue. The technology known as “ShotSpotter” relies upon acoustic sensors to pinpoint where gunfire occurs. Information from the sensors is sent to officers of the Columbia Police Department and 9-1-1 dispatchers through real-time digital alerts.
Upon canvassing the area, officers recovered numerous shell casings from the roadway and learned that individuals in a car had fired shots into a home and Sanders had fired shots back at the car from inside the home. The individuals in the car were not identified or located. However, the investigation revealed that Sanders, a felon and prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition, was in possession of two firearms, including a pistol with a 50-round drum magazine, as well as ammunition. Sanders, a former gang member, was out on separate state bonds for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to traffic marijuana at the time of the incident. Sanders has prior separate state convictions for unlawful carrying of a weapon, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (where he shot a female in the leg), and assault with intent to kill (where he shot into a moving vehicle).
United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs sentenced Sanders to 46 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the City of Columbia Police Department. 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. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.