Columbia Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Federal Prison for Carjacking

Columbia, South Carolina ---- Acting United States Attorney A. Lance Crick announced today that Shawkeem Reese, 20, of Columbia, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to using a firearm in furtherance of carjacking.

Evidence presented to the court showed that on June 29, 2019, Reese approached a victim seated in a Chrysler 300 vehicle parked near the Greenview area of Columbia.  Reese then brandished a loaded firearm and directed the victim to exit the vehicle. Reese entered the vehicle and drove away.  Minutes later, Columbia Police Department officers saw the car traveling on West Beltline Boulevard and began pursuit.  Reese led officers in a high-speed chase, accelerating up to 110 miles per hour.  Ultimately, Reese crashed the vehicle into three parked cars at a used car lot and fled on foot.  Officers quickly apprehended Reese and located a firearm in the Chrysler 300.

Federal law prohibits Reese from possessing firearms based on his prior state convictions for burglary and assault and battery.

Senior United States District Judge Cameron M. Currie, of Columbia, sentenced Reese to 84 months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Reese was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Columbia Police Department. It was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Assistant United States Attorneys Alyssa Leigh Richardson and Elliott B. Daniels of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.