Nicholas Vanover, a 26-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, received an additional federal prison sentence after admitting to possessing a firearm as a felon. Vanover had previously faced the same charge and was out on bond. During this time, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agents found Vanover selling marijuana from his home, breaching his bond conditions.
An arrest warrant was issued for Vanover’s bond violations, and U.S. Marshals served it at his residence. They discovered a digital scale with marijuana, ammunition magazines, a handgun, a rifle, four bags containing over 500 grams of marijuana, around $16,000 in cash, and a bottle of codeine cough syrup.
Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie sentenced Vanover to 75 months in prison, to be served after his current 63-month term for a previous conviction. Post-incarceration, Vanover will be under court-ordered supervision for three years. It should be noted that federal system does not offer parole.
The case was part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the Department of Justice’s initiative to reduce violent crime. The PSN Program collaborates with various stakeholders to tackle violent crime issues in the community.