Columbia man pleads guilty to firearm charge in federal court

Raekwon Ford
Source: Columbia Police Department

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– According to Acting United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina M. Rhett DeHart, a Columbia plead guilty to a federal firearm charge. Officials say 24-year-old Raekwon Cortez Ford pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

According to investigators, an iPhone was among several items stolen from vehicles in late November 2019. The Columbia Police Department says one of the victims was able to track their iPhone to a residence in Columbia and notified police. Officers responding to the residence say they found Ford among a number of individuals in the yard. Police say they placed Ford under arrest on outstanding warrants, and he was also found to be in possession of the stolen iPhone.

On December 4, 2019, officers say they executed a search warrant at Ford’s residence where they discovered a loaded Ruger .45 caliber handgun inside an air vent in his bedroom. According to investigators, analysis found Ford’s DNA on the gun which was reported stolen from a vehicle break-in in December 2018 in Columbia. Authorities say that additional analysis from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network shows that the gun had been used in four shooting incidents in both Richland and Lexington Counties between June and August of 2019.

Because of past felony convictions, Ford is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. Authorities say he has previously been convicted of unlawful carry of a weapon, possession of a stolen weapon, breach of peace of an aggravated nature and breach of trust.

After his guilty plea, officials say Ford faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.