COLUMBIA -- Two Bamberg County men were sentenced Wednesday in federal court as the final of 10 defendants in a firearms trafficking case.

U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. said Tyshawn Anthony Brown, 30, and Scottie Sharay Porter, 28, both of Bamberg, were sentenced in Aiken.

Brown was sentenced for conspiracy and for aiding and abetting another in making a material false statement to a licensed firearms dealer in connection with the purchase of firearms.

Porter was sentenced for making a material false statement to a licensed firearms dealer in connection with the purchase of firearms.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour of Columbia sentenced Brown to 27 months' imprisonment with three years of supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment and a $200 special assessment fee.

Porter was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment with three years of supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment and a $100 special assessment fee.

The other eight co-defendants were sentenced in January to the following:

-- Nakeeya Luchiania Brown, 27, of Charlotte, N.C. -- 12 months' probation, six months of home detention and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Mary English Butler, 51, of Blackville -- 12 months' probation, six months of home detention and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Dorian Jermaine Francis, 25, of Bamberg -- 24 months' probation and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Iona Janine Murdaugh, 25, of Ehrhardt -- 12 months' probation and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Lena Marie Pizarro, 25, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Bamberg -- 24 months' probation, six months of home detention with electronic monitoring and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Rosalyn DeLoach Williams, a/k/a Roslyn D. Brown, 43, of Denmark -- 24 months' probation and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Lavette Zimmerman, 31, of Orangeburg -- 36 months' probation, six months of home detention with electronic monitoring and a $100 special assessment fee.

-- Sheronda Zimmerman, 26, of Orangeburg -- 24 months' probation, six months of home detention with electronic monitoring and a $100 special assessment fee.

Evidence presented at hearings in November and December of 2003 established that in the year 2000, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in New York began an investigation after 14 crime guns, recovered at various times by the New York Police Department, were traced and found to have been purchased from Woody's Pawn Shop in Orangeburg.

ATF New York, along with ATF South Carolina, discovered that the 10 defendants were responsible for the purchase of 46 guns from March 1998 through 2001. Fourteen of the 46 guns were recovered by police in the Brooklyn area after being used in a crime.

Investigation revealed that Tyshawn Anthony Brown recruited and paid the other individuals to purchase the firearms, which were mostly Hi Point 9mm pistols, for him. Those pistols, which were purchased at various gun shops in the Orangeburg and Charleston areas, were then transported to New York. When purchasing the firearms, the individuals answered a question on ATF Form 4473 stating they were the actual purchaser of the firearm, when in fact they were not.

Therefore, the individuals "straw purchased" the firearms for Tyshawn Anthony Brown.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of South Carolina and New York, as part of the joint federal, state and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which seeks to prosecute aggressively individuals who unlawfully use, possess or transfer firearms. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office handled the case.

Woman pleads to theft of mail in St. Matthews

In an unrelated case, Latoya Johnson, 24, of Orangeburg, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Aiken for theft of cash taken from mail that came into her possession as a postal service employee. Judge Seymour accepted the plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change-of-plea hearing established that from May 14, 2003, through June 26, 2003, Johnson rifled through registered mail bank deposits after hours at the post office in St. Mathews and took a total of approximately $18,000 in cash from the mail, and converted the money to her own use.

Thurmond stated the maximum penalty Johnson could receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 10 years, plus a special assessment of $100.

The case was investigated by inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Marshall Prince of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.

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