Former Bamberg official Kerry Trent Kinard pleads guilty to lying to buy a handgun

Former Bamberg County council member Kerry Trent Kinard pled guilty Thursday afternoon to the federal firearms charge of lying on an application to buy a handgun at a Columbia area gun and sporting goods store, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia.

The guilty plea of Kinard, who also faces a host of child molestation charges in state court, was taken by U.S. Judge Mary Lewis at the the Matthew Perry federal courthouse in Columbia.

“When you plead guilty, you admit the truth of the charge against you,” said Judge Lewis.

“Yes, your honor,” replied Kinard, 50, who said he was formerly a sports information director at University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie campus. He had also previously been a S.C. Highway Patrol trooper and a Jasper County magistrate before gaining a seat on the Bamberg County Council.

“How do you plead?” asked Lewis.

“Guilty,” said Kinard, who was represented by attorney Bakari Sellers of Columbia.

A man of medium build with strands of gray in his black hair, Kinard wore an orange jail jump suit and his feet and hands were shackled with metal chains. He has been held without bond since early December when he was arrested on the gun charge.

A criminal complaint in the federal case says that on Dec. 2, Kinard tried to buy a Taurus 9 mm handgun at Sportsman’s Warehouse 155, 476 Piney Grove Road.

The attempt to buy a gun was unsuccessful. Commercial gun stores, which are federally licensed firearms dealers, are required to get basic information from a prospective buyer — such as data off their driver’s license and whether they have been indicted or convicted on felony charges — and send it to an FBI database. If no answer is received, the gun shop must delay the purchase for three days.

At the time of the attempted gun purchase, Kinard had a criminal record consisting of serious charges against him, some of which would have likely been in the national FBI criminal records database.

Kinard was out on bond on the felony sex charges, had been suspended by Gov. Henry McMaster from his council post, was on GPS monitoring and under a judge’s order not to get near his spouse.

As a federally licensed firearms dealer, the gun store required Kinard to fill out an application where he had to answer the question: “Are you under indictment or information (a criminal charge) in any court for a felony, or any other crime for which the judge could imprison you for more than one year?” the complaint said.

Kinard answered “No” to that question, even though he was under seven separate state felony indictments at the time, the complaint said.

The complaint also said that another question Kinard answered falsely at Sportsman’s Warehouse was in response to the question, “Are you subject to a court order … restraining you from harassing, stalking, or threatening your child or an intimate partner or child of such partner?”

Although Kinard answered “no,” he was in fact under a protective order gotten by his wife, the complaint said.

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels, who is prosecuting the case, told Judge Lewis that the protective order, issued on Oct. 27 by a family court Judge Vicki Snelgrove, specifically prohibited Kinard from possessing a firearm.

Daniels told the judge that Kinard stayed at the gun store about 50 minutes, but the FBI database did not report back to the store that it approved the sale of the weapon to Kinard and the purchase was not approved. If a sale is approved by the FBI, a purchase can be cleared within minutes.

Following the non-approval, the State Law Enforcement Division and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives got involved, Daniels said. Kinard was arrested on the next day.

After court, defense attorney Sellers told reporters that Kinard was trying to buy the gun for two reasons — it was on sale, and he had received some online threats.

Kinard had his brother with him and wasn’t intending to break any gun laws, Sellers said. “If Kinard wanted to circumvent the law, he could have just waited outside and had his brother get it.”

The charge carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence and a maximum $250,000 fine.

However, Sellers said that Kinard will likely receive far less than 10 years for the federal offense since he has no prior record of convictions. Sentencing will come at a later date.

As for Kinard’s state charges, Sellers said he has been unsuccessfully seeking a speedy trial. “We look forward to going to Bamberg County and getting a not guilty verdict.”

In court Thursday, Kinard — who told the judge he studied history at the University of South Carolina — clutched a thick book that Sellers identified as “The Accidental President,” an in-depth look at President Harry Truman’s first four months in office in 1945 after President Franklin Roosevelt died unexpectedly.

This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Former Bamberg official Kerry Trent Kinard pleads guilty to lying to buy a handgun."