Loris Armed Robber Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison

Florence, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr., announced today that Fuquan Thompson, 52, of Loris, was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Evidence presented to the court showed that on March 5, 2018, Thompson entered a store in Loris wearing a black mask, brandished a firearm, and demanded money and car keys.  The store clerk gave Thompson some money and the keys to the clerk’s car, and Thompson left the store.  Officers, who responded and viewed Thompson on the store’s surveillance video, found Thompson a short distance from the store.  In his possession, Thompson had a firearm, as well as the car keys and money he had taken from the store.  Thompson ultimately pleaded guilty.

Chief United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell sentenced Thompson to 60 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Horry County Police Department. 

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Hummel of the Florence office prosecuted the case.