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Crime & Courts

Columbia Man Sentenced to 57 Months for Illegal Firearm Possession

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina announced the sentence on August 14, 2026, following a 2025 traffic stop in Richland County.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 11:22 a.m. ET
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This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

Carlos Antwon Lewis, 46, of Columbia, has been to 57 months in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina dated August 14, 2026. The office said the prison term is to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision, and noted that there is no parole in the federal system. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis imposed the sentence. According to the announcement, evidence obtained in the investigation showed that on March 4, 2025, a Richland County Sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop on an SUV and contacted the driver, with Lewis in the front passenger seat. The office said the deputy smelled the odor of marijuana, which the occupants admitted to smoking before leaving their residence, and that after both were asked to step out, Lewis said he had a firearm and the deputy recovered a loaded 9mm pistol from his waistband. The announcement states that Lewis is prohibited from possessing a firearm based on prior convictions for arson, burglary, domestic violence, unlawful carrying of a firearm, possession of less than one gram of methamphetamine or cocaine base, possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance near a school, and distribution of methamphetamine or cocaine base. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Richland County Sheriff's Department, and the office said Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is prosecuting it. The office listed the matter under its Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. This report is based solely on the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement; the case record remains open and further details have not been established here.

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  1. Version 115 Aug 2026, 15:22current

    First published.

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