City Of Columbia Police Department: Columbia Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Firearms And Drugs To ATF

Columbia SC

27 May, 2022

7:54 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Columbia Police Department: May 24, 2022 COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA —Derrall Lanard Reed, a/k/a "Ric0,"35, of Columbia, has pleaded guilty to five counts of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and four counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine. Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that in early 2020, agents from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), along with local agencies, conducted an investigation into firearms within the Columbia area. During this investigation, undercover ATF agents were introduced to Reed, who during five transactions in February 2020 sold five handguns, many of which were loaded, and crack cocaine and cocaine to undercover ATF agents. During one of the transactions, the undercover agent tried to buy Reed's personal firearm, but he refused, saying he didn't want to be "naked" (without a gun). Reed was arrested on federal charges and detained without bond on March 12, 2020, when he showed up to sell another firearm to the undercover agents. A federal search warrant was executed on his home. Inside the home, agents found his personal firearm, which had a high capacity magazine, and various rounds of ammunition. Of the six handguns recovered by ATF during this investigation, three had previously been reported as having been stolen from residences or vehicles. Two were previously reported stolen in Richland County (August 2019 and October 2019) and one, which someone had attempted to obliterate the serial number, had previously been reported as having been stolen from a residence in Hoke County, North Carolina (November 2016). Additionally, two of the firearms, including the one recovered in Reed's home, were preliminarily linked through ballistics analysis as having been involved in ShotSpotter incidents and other shooting incidents in Columbia on July 2019, November 2019, December 2019, and March 11, 2020. Reed has prior state convictions for: possession of crack cocaine from 2004, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine from 2006, and assault and battery with intent to kill from 2006, where he shot another person in the thigh. This press release was produced by the City of Columbia Police Department. The views expressed here are the author's own.