Todd Joseph Harbuck, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Georgia 2023

Todd Joseph Harbuck, a 48-year-old man from Augusta, Georgia, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegal gun possession, following a violent confrontation with his ex-girlfriend and a subsequent arrest in Oconee County, Georgia.

According to U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg, Harbuck’s disturbing record of violent attacks on women and public safety officers, as well as his history of illegal drug use, makes him a danger to society. With the help of law enforcement partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work towards keeping the community safe and removing guns from the hands of violent offenders.

On July 2022, Columbia County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of domestic violence in Grovetown, Georgia, where they found Harbuck’s ex-girlfriend with serious injuries, including a laceration to her head and a bite mark on her arm. Harbuck threatened to shoot her and struck her in the head with a pistol before taking a gun from her. He then shoved a neighbor who came to her defense, pointed a weapon at her, and fired into the air as he left and drove away.

Harbuck was arrested the next day in Oconee County, Georgia, where deputies found drugs in his vehicle and later located the pistol taken from his ex-girlfriend. This investigation was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime and making neighborhoods safer.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia G. Rhodes prosecuted the case for the United States.

Todd Harbuck was sentenced to 188 months in prison for Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. He also received an additional 24 months in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release, to be served consecutively with the new sentence. Upon release from prison, Harbuck must serve an additional five years of supervised release.

This case highlights the importance of Project Safe Neighborhoods in keeping communities safe from violent crime. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with law enforcement partners to bring violent offenders to justice and remove guns from the hands of those who pose a danger to society.