Brandon Shane Polston, Federal Firearm Charges, South Carolina 2018

Columbia, South Carolina

Brandon Shane Polston, age 32, of Lancaster, plead guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of firearms, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), and 924(e), and to possession of machineguns and a destructive device not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Sections 5841, 5861(d), and 5871.

Co-defendants Austin Lee Ritter, age 23, and Kimberly Denise Cannon, age 40, both of Lancaster, each plead guilty to the same charges on June 25, 2018.

United States District Judge Michelle Childs, of Columbia, accepted the guilty pleas and will impose sentences after she has reviewed the presentence reports, which will be prepared by the United States Probation Office.

Evidence presented in court established that on the early morning hours of November 26, 2017, an officer with the Lancaster Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by co-defendant Cannon after observing her littering.

Further investigation during the traffic stop revealed the following inside the vehicle: a FNH, model M249, 5.56mm machinegun, two (2) Colt, model M-16, 5.56mm machineguns, two (2) Beretta, model M9, 9mm pistols, a Colt, model M203, 40mm grenade launcher (“destructive device”), night vision goggles, and various military items stolen from the Lancaster National Guard Armory.

Polston and his co-defendants Ritter and Cannon are all prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon their prior state convictions.

Polston faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and 3 years of supervised release on each of the firearm charges.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Lancaster Police Department, and the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and was prosecuted as part of Project CeaseFire, a joint federal, state and local initiative focused upon aggressively prosecuting firearm cases in an effort to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/lancaster-resident-pleads-federal-firearm-charges-relating-firearms-stolen-national-guard