Charlotte Teen Pleads Guilty to Simpsonville Gun Shop Heist

Before dawn on October 13, 2016, three men in hoodies and gloves smashed their way into The Gun Shop and Indoor Range in Simpsonville, South Carolina, using a stolen minivan as a battering ram. Within 60 seconds, they shattered display cases with a sledgehammer and baseball bat, stuffing 43 handguns into bags before vanishing in a getaway car. Among them: 18-year-old Juran Maghi Witherspoon of Charlotte, North Carolina, who pleaded guilty today in federal court to his role in the brazen heist.

The surveillance footage doesn’t lie. At 2:52 a.m., the white Chrysler Town & Country—later linked to a theft in Denver, North Carolina—plowed through the front of the store at 622 NE Main Street. Witherspoon and two accomplices stormed in, targeting high-end firearms from brands including Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, and Taurus. They grabbed Auto Ordnance, Bersa, Ruger, Springfield Armory, and Taurus models—forty-three in total—before fleeing the scene, leaving behind the mangled van like a calling card.

Witherspoon was arrested in early November 2016 on federal warrants and has been locked up without bond ever since. Indicted by a federal grand jury on December 13, 2016, he faced the music in court this morning, admitting his guilt before U.S. District Judge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins laid out the evidence, including video, forensic links, and stolen property logs that sealed Witherspoon’s fate.

U.S. Attorney Beth Drake confirmed the stakes: Witherspoon now faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee. No plea deal sugarcoats the consequences—he’s staring down a federal felony that will mark his life for decades.

Drake had praise for the agencies that cracked the case: “The Simpsonville and Charlotte police, ATF and the Lincoln County Sheriff, they pulled together to solve this one. Working together for safer communities is what it’s about.” The investigation, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, leaned on collaboration from the Simpsonville Police Department, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, and Lincoln County (NC) Sheriff’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Crick, both out of the Greenville federal office. As the stolen firearms remain unaccounted for, authorities warn the public: weapons from this robbery could still surface in violent crimes across the Southeast. This wasn’t just a break-in. It was an armed time bomb.

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