News Release from our law enforcement partner the United States Attorney’s Office – District of South Carolina
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA —Jae’Kwon Rumph, 23, of Columbia, was sentenced to 70 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 on March 2, 2022, the City of Columbia Police Department (CPD) received a ShotSpotter Alert on Colleton Street. CPD officers responded to the location and found four 9mm shell casings. CPD investigators recovered surveillance video of the incident, which displayed Rumph shooting at a moving vehicle. At the time of the shooting, Rumph was a known gang member, and he was identified by members of law enforcement.
After the shooting, Rumph was arrested wearing the same clothing that he had on in the surveillance video from the shooting incident.
On April 23, 2022, West Columbia Police Department recovered a firearm during a traffic stop. The recovered firearm had a NIBIN link to the shell casings from the shooting on March 2, 2022. A firearm and tool mark analyst with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed the link and determined the recovered firearm fired the shell casings found at the shooting scene.
Federal law prohibits Rumph from possessing a firearm due to his prior convictions for Domestic Violence First Degree and Strong Arm Robbery.
United States District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie sentenced Rumph to 70 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.
The case was prosecuted 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.
The case was investigated by the City of Columbia Police Department, the West Columbia Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar J. Fyall is prosecuting the case.
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CONTACT PERSON: Brook Andrews, First Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, [email protected], 803-929-3000.