Hanahan Man Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Federal Prison

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Valdimere Rasheen Rivers, 30, of Hanahan was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. 

United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel of Charleston sentenced Rivers to 137 months in federal prison, to be followed by 2 years of court-ordered supervision.

Evidence presented to the court showed that agents of the U.S. Postal Service alerted the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and the Hanahan Police Department that Rivers was receiving suspicious packages from California, and he was arrested while returning from the post office with a box of marijuana in his vehicle.

When officers stopped Rivers, he texted his girlfriend with instructions to retrieve money and additional marijuana from the couple’s townhouse. As a surveillance team closed in on the residence, Rivers’ girlfriend dropped a container of marijuana into a nearby dumpster and loaded thousands of dollars of cash into one of Rivers’ cars.

She was arrested, and a search of the townhouse revealed additional marijuana and a loaded revolver. An additional shipment of marijuana addressed to one of Rivers’ relatives was also intercepted. In all, authorities seized over five pounds of marijuana and more than $4,500.00 in cash.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the United States Postal Service, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hanahan Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Chris Schoen of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  The Department of Justice has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority.  In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, the Attorney General announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.