Gang member pleads guilty to stolen firearm, ammunition charge

COLUMBIA, SC An admitted gang member pleaded guilty to firearm charges stemming from an incident this past summer in federal court Thursday.

Anthony Leroy “Amp” Doctor, 26, of Columbia pleaded guilty to being in possession of a stolen firearm and ammunition, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles’ office.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the plea and will later determine a sentence.

Doctor was in possession of a firearm when he was involved in a disturbance in a parking lot outside of a nightclub on Broad River and Rushmore roads June 7, according to the release. Club security confronted Doctor, who then left the firearm in bushes at a nearby restaurant and left the premises.

He later returned to that area to retrieve the weapon but was asked to leave by restaurant employees. When he continued to search for the gun, a Richland County deputy responded to the scene following a report of a suspicious person in the parking lot.

When questioned by the deputy, he reportedly did not turn around and said he was looking for his gun.

Doctor, who was intoxicated, was placed in investigative detention while deputies and a K-9 found the firearm, a Taurus 9mm handgun loaded with one round of ammunition. The gun had been reported stolen in the fall of 2014 from a vehicle in Aiken.

Doctor was on state probation at the time of the incident and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition based on prior felony convictions, which include carjacking, assault and batter with intent to kill, strong armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime. Because of his history, the case was referred to federal authorities for prosecution.

Doctor faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He agreed to the 10 year sentence as part of his plea agreement.