Former Richland County Employee Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated today that Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson sentenced James Anthony Brown Jr., a former employee of the Richland County Recreation Commission, to 135 months of incarceration as a result of his conviction for Possessing with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).

Evidence presented in court established that on the May 27, 2016, Richland County Sherriff’s deputies stopped Brown after deputies observed him retrieving a package, suspected of containing narcotics, from the front porch of an address in Columbia, S.C. After encountering Brown, deputies searched the package and found 11.9 pounds of marijuana. A subsequent search was done of Brown’s home and deputies found a second package with approximately 775 grams of methamphetamine (street value of approximately $20,000). This package was addressed to Brown and had the same return address as the previous package which contained the 11.9 pounds of marijuana. Additionally, deputies found more marijuana, drug paraphernalia, ecstasy and an assault rifle throughout Brown’s home.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richland County Sherriff’s Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Will Lewis and Alyssa Richardson of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.