Hartsville man sentenced on federal gun charge

COLUMBIA – U.S. District Court Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced William Ray Paylor of Hartsville, 22, to 47 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Walter Wilkins.

According to the release, the Hartsville Police Depart-ment received a tip last January that Paylor was in possession of a gun and drugs and was riding a bike through the streets of Hartsville. Paylor was located and apprehended after a brief struggle, the release said. When officers patted him down, they found a .32 caliber revolver, .32 caliber ammunition and one gram of marijuana.

Paylor had multiple prior drug convictions and is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm, according to the release.

The case was investigated by the Hartsville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives (ATF), and Assistant United States Attorney Rose Mary Parham of the Florence office prosecuted the case as part of Project CeaseFire, an initiative of the U.S. Attorneys office that seeks to aggressively prosecute gun-related crimes.