On behalf of CPD partner, the United States Attorney’s Office (South Carolina):
Acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart, announced today that Kevin Shacqile Roney, a/k/a “Kevo,” a/k/a “Valentine Roney,” 26, of Columbia, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Evidence presented to the court showed that at approximately 1:15am on August 18, 2019, officers in the Five Points area of Columbia observed an individual, later identified as Roney, stash something underneath bushes adjacent to a parking lot. Officers discovered that the item was a loaded 9mm handgun. Officers set up surveillance and arrested Roney on state charges when he returned to retrieve the firearm an hour later. Roney, a gang member, admitted to placing the firearm underneath the bushes. Further investigation revealed a social media video from May 2020 where Roney, who had been released on state bonds, brandished another firearm in the video.
Roney is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon his prior felony convictions. Roney has prior state convictions for unlawful carrying of a weapon, burglary 3rd degree, and assault and battery 2nd degree.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Roney to 30 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Columbia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes prosecuted the case 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.