COLUMBIA, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Derrick Johnson, a/k/a “Big D,” age 30, of Columbia, South Carolina, plead guilty to possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 5 grams or more of crack cocaine and felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in federal court today.  United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie accepted the plea and will sentence Johnson at a later date.

Evidence established that in June 2005, in the parking lot of a store on Beltline Boulevard in Columbia, Johnson and another individual sold 10.68 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant working with the FBI.  Later, Columbia Police apprehended Johnson in possession of a small quantity of drugs and a loaded .45 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number. 

Johnson is prohibited under federal law from possessing a firearm or ammunition based upon his prior state convictions for possession with intent to distribute marijuana, failure to stop for a blue light and siren, possession of ecstasy, pointing and presenting a firearm, criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, and burglary 2nd degree. 

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated the maximum penalty Johnson could receive on the drug charge is a mandatory minimum of ten years imprisonment with a maximum of life.  On the firearm charge, Johnson faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years imprisonment and a maximum of life.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Violent Gang Task Force and the Columbia Police Department, and was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases.  Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office handled the prosecution of the case.