Columbia man sentenced to federal prison for packing at SC plasma donation center
A Columbia man who tried to donate plasma while armed with a gun has been sentenced to nearly three years behind bars, federal prosecutors said.
Donovan Jackson, 32, was sentenced Jan. 15 to 33 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina announced Thursday.
Jackson, who pleaded guilty last August, was arrested in 2023 after bringing a Glock to a plasma donation center on Decker Boulevard, court records show.
Employees at the center called 911 after observing the firearm inside the front pocket of his sweatshirt, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Jackson, who was on probation at the time for a prior conviction of furnishing contraband to an inmate, was detained at the center by deputies from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, prosecutors said.
He was prohibited from having a firearm under federal law due to his prior felony conviction.
Jackson’s 33-month sentence will be followed by two years of court-ordered supervision.
His case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.