From the United States Attorney’s Office – District of South Carolina
Kendell Deion Pollock, 28, of Columbia, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime.
Evidence presented to the Court showed that on November 12, 2020, Columbia Police Department (CPD) officers were dispatched to investigate a robbery call in the Marlboro St. area of Columbia. Officers saw Pollock and another man riding in a car thought to be involved in the robbery, and they stopped the car. They searched the car due to a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car.
Officers found a 9mm pistol with a fully loaded 30-round ammunition magazine attached, nearly a quarter of a pound of marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia in the car. Pollock admitted to possessing the marijuana and pistol. Pollock had previous convictions for burglary and drug possession.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Pollock to 78 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 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.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Columbia Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Taylor is prosecuting the case.