SC man held woman captive, officials say. He’ll go to federal prison on other charge
A South Carolina man could be sentenced to life in a federal prison after pleading guilty to weapons charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
De’Marionne Zaquann Miller, a 22-year-old Lexington resident, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday in a news release.
The charges stem from a June 14, 2025 incident, according to the release. Deputies with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department responded to an apartment after a family reported that they were concerned that Miller was holding a victim captive in the apartment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The victim sent her family alarming text messages the day before this incident, prompting her relatives to drive from Florida to check on the victim, according to the release. The family was waiting outside the apartment during law enforcement’s confrontation with Miller, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Miller, who had an outstanding warrant for a probation violation ran out of the apartment with an AK-style rifle and a backpack when law enforcement officers arrived, according to the release. When deputies caught Miller, he did not have the rifle, but after taking him into custody the deputies retraced Miller’s path and found the firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In the backpack, deputies found cash, numerous individual bags of marijuana and two cellphones, according to the release. During a search of the apartment deputies discovered a large vacuum sealed bag of marijuana, a scale used in weighing the marijuana and ammunition for the gun, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Miller is prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition based upon prior convictions for escape and unlawful carrying of a pistol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Miller after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office, according to the release. Miller faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Should Miller be released from federal prison, he also could be sentenced to 5 years of supervision.
Miller is currently being held in the Lexington County Detention Center, where he’s been locked up since the June 14 arrest, jail records show. Miller also was charged with multiple state charges that are pending, according to Lexington County court records.
Bond was denied on criminal domestic violence (of a high and aggravated nature), drug and two weapons charges, jail records show. When he was arrested Miller also was charged with two counts of possession of a firearm or ammo by person convicted of certain crimes, filing a false police report, threatening the life, person or family of a public official, intimidation (of court officials, witnesses or jurors) and probation violations, according to jail records.
Both the sheriff’s department and the FBI Columbia Field Office have been involved in the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is leading the prosecution of the federal case, while Assistant Solicitor Christy Oler is listed as leading the prosecution of the state charges for the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Columbia attorney Todd Rutherford, also a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, is listed as Miller’s lawyer in the state case.
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