FORMER LAKE CITY MAYOR SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney REGINALD I. LLOYD stated today that CARL LARUE ALFORD, age 46, of Lake City, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Florence, for possession of counterfeit currency. United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten of Florence sentenced ALFORD to 5 months imprisonment to be followed by 3 years supervised release, the first six months of which ALFORD must serve in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Evidence was presented at the guilty plea hearing to establish that Carl Larue ALFORD had received counterfeit currency from an individual and supplied it to his nephew, Rico Alford, to be used to purchase drugs. The individual supplying the counterfeit to ALFORD subsequently began cooperating with law enforcement agents and recorded conversations he had with ALFORD. In the recorded conversations, ALFORD indicated a desire to obtain additional counterfeit currency. On April 19, 2006, the cooperating witness met ALFORD at ALFORD’s Lake City business, Pirate’s T-Shirts Plus, and provided ALFORD with $5,600 in counterfeit currency. During the meeting, ALFORD indicated he knew of a drug dealer to whom he could sell the counterfeit currency. ALFORD was arrested shortly after the confidential witness left ALFORD’s business on April 19, 2006.

The case was investigated by agents of the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Florence office handled the case.