Columbia man given maximum sentence following conviction on drug and firearm charges

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– According to United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart, a Columbia man was sentenced to the maximum after being convicted of firearm and drug charges in April.

On the evening of October 16, 2020, investigators say the Columbia Police Department responded to Wash City Laundromat for reports of someone brandishing a firearm and assaulting a 65-year-old female attendant. Once on the scene, police say witnesses provided a description of the individual as well as a cell phone video taken of him during the incident. Police say they canvassed the area and found an individual matching the description, authorities say a pat down search revealed loaded Hi-Point .380 caliber handgun in the man’s waistband and a pill bottle which contained a small bag with three grams of crack cocaine in it as well as a razor blade. Authorities say the man was identified as Eric Nixon.

According to authorities, surveillance video from the laundromat confirmed that Nixon pulled out the gun and assaulted to attendant, along with pointing the gun at people in the parking lot.

Officials say Nixon is a convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing firearms. Authorities say his previous convictions include assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in 2005 in Lexington County, throwing bodily fluid on a correctional officer, distribution of crack cocaine near a school and unlawful carrying of a pistol which stemmed from a shooting outside a Waffle House in Richland County. Additionally, authorities say Nixon accumulated dozens of disciplinary violations while at a local detention center, including possessing a handmade weapon and threatening correctional officers.

Nixon was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition as well as possession of crack cocaine. He was sentenced to the maximum of 120 months in federal prison for the firearm charge and 24 months for possession of crack cocaine.