Columbia, South Carolina — A serial robber has pleaded guilty to seven counts of Hobbs Act robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Ron Luclaire Houser, 42, of Mathews, North Carolina, entered his guilty plea in federal court on [no specific date mentioned].
Evidence presented to the court showed that Houser committed multiple armed robberies from November 2016 through January 2018 throughout North and South Carolina. In all, Houser robbed six Dollar General stores and a gas station.
The robberies occurred in Fort Mill, Lancaster, and Lugoff, South Carolina, and Monroe and Ansonville, North Carolina. In each robbery, Houser threatened employees at gunpoint.
Houser faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. Senior United States District Judge Cameron M. Currie accepted the guilty plea and will sentence him after receiving and reviewing a presentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.
The charges against Houser were the result of an extensive and coordinated investigation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, and Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office of South Carolina and the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office, Oakboro Police Department, Thomasville Police Department, and Stallings Police Department in North Carolina.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is South Carolina’s implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.
Assistant United States Attorney Will Lewis of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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