Man gets 15 years in Mullins traffic stop case

A Charlotte, N.C., man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with a Mullins traffic stop, U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins said in a press release issued Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge R. Bryan Harwell has sentenced 28-year-old Robert Demon Taylor for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and possessing said firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

In May, Marion County sheriff’s deputies stopped Taylor in Mullins for speeding and found he was driving with a suspended license. They seized 22 grams of crack cocaine, a loaded revolver and $8,500 in cash from the trunk of Taylor’s vehicle, and he admitted the items belonged to him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham of the Florence office prosecuted the case, which also was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as part of Project CeaseFire, an initiative of the U.S. Attorneys Office that seeks to aggressively prosecute gun-related crimes.