Myrtle Beach man sentenced to nearly 22 years for federal weapons violation

A Myrtle Beach man was sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison this week for a 2015 shooting at an apartment complex on Cedar Street.

Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake reported Wednesday that a jury found 30-year-old Jamal Antwan Lewis guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm on May 3 in a federal court in Florence.

He was sentenced to serve 21 years and 10 months in prison, followed by a term of five years’ supervised release, according to court records.

Evidence at the trial showed that on the evening of March 30, 2015, officers with the Myrtle Beach Police Department responded to a shooting call at an apartment on Cedar Street, Drake said in a release. Witnesses identified Lewis as having a firearm and stated that he had run into one of the apartments at the complex.

No one was injured in the shooting.

Myrtle Beach officers eventually made entry into the apartment where Lewis was believed to be hiding. Lewis and a loaded firearm were found in an upstairs bedroom, according to the release. The apartment owner stated that Lewis had brought the firearm into the apartment.

Lewis was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to prior convictions for aggravated domestic violence, pointing and presenting a firearm, and distribution of a controlled substance, according to the release.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Myrtle Beach Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Taylor of the Florence office prosecuted the case, according to Drake’s release.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases, according to the release.

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach man sentenced to nearly 22 years for federal weapons violation."