CHARLESTON, SC (Nov. 28, 2023) – A convicted felon found with cocaine during a traffic stop in Beaufort is headed back to federal prison, this time for 15 years.
Terrance Anthony Scott of Fred Lane in Seabrook was sentenced Nov. 16 in U.S. District Court in Charleston to 180 months in federal prison. Scott’s sentencing follows the Beaufort County man’s June guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Carra Henderson of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, through a long-standing partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute federal crimes in the 14th Circuit.
“Trying defendants in the federal system enhances community safety in several ways,” said Solicitor Duffie Stone. “That includes sentences that must be completed in their entirety. Terrence Scott will serve every day of his 180-month sentence, and that is 15 years our community will be free from his menace.”
On Jan. 18, 2020, Beaufort police pulled over Scott for a seatbelt violation. When the officer approached the vehicle, he smelled marijuana and called for backup. While waiting for backup and while the officer was still standing near the driver’s door, Scott grabbed a bag from inside the car and tried to run from the officer. The officer nabbed Scott, who admitted there were other items inside the vehicle, including a loaded, stolen Sig Sauer P320 9 mm pistol, a digital scale and a plastic bag that contained approximately 26 grams of cocaine.
Scott’s criminal history includes hit and run (2005); assault on a police officer while resisting arrest (2006); strong-arm robbery (2006); disorderly conduct (2006) in Georgia; and robbery of a postal worker (2008), for which he served 7 1/2 years in federal prison.
Scott is the 85th defendant convicted in federal court through the Solicitor’s Office’s partnerships, which affords prosecutors stiffer penalties for many gun and drug violations than are typically available under South Carolina law. In 2023 alone, Henderson has helped secure 18 federal convictions against defendants who committed crimes in Beaufort, Jasper, Colleton, Hampton and Allendale counties.
U.S. District Court Judge David C. Norton handed down the sentence.
