COLUMBIA — Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald stated today that Cory Aubrey Carruthers, 39, of Union, has been charged in a federal Superseding Indictment with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, violations of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g), 924(c) and Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1) .  

Carruthers was initially indicted by a federal grand jury in 2007 for drug and weapons charges and had been a fugitive until last December when Greenville deputies located and arrested him in a parking lot on Woodruff Road. The new charges allege that Carruthers had more drugs and a firearm in his possession when he was arrested.

The maximum penalty Carruthers could receive for the drug charge is a fine of $250,000.00 and imprisonment of 10 years.  As to the charge of using a carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, he faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison, in addition to any other term of imprisonment.

Mr. McDonald stated that the case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Union County Sheriff's Office and the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, and that he has assigned the case to Assistant United States Attorney Jeanne Howard of the Greenville office for prosecution.

The Acting United States Attorney stated that all charges in this Indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.