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Date: 08-04-2020
Case Style:
Case Number: 18-cr-00426
Judge: Mary Geiger Lewis
Court: United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (Richland County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney's Office
Defendant's Attorney: Call 918-582-6422 for free help finding a criminal defense lawyer to represent your.
Description: Columbia, SC - The United States of America charged Marvin Leroy Smith-Capers, Jr., age 38, with arson.
According to evidence presented to the court, on January 8, 2018, just after midnight, Smith-Capers set fire to Joy’s Touch of Class in downtown Holly Hill after spending much of the previous two hours stealing merchandise from the store. The flames spread to two adjacent businesses, Goldstein’s and the Super 10, causing damage to all three in excess of $700,000.
Holly Hill police officers first noticed suspicious activity when the white GMC Yukon driven by Smith-Capers recklessly pulled into the road opposite their direction of travel. They followed the Yukon, which then accelerated down Railroad Street, ultimately losing control. At the accident scene, officers discovered the overturned Yukon, an ejected and unresponsive Smith-Capers, and merchandise scattered about. This merchandise was traced back to Joy’s.
Smith-Capers was also linked to the scene of the fire through the ankle monitor he was wearing as part of a previous probationary sentence. GPS data tracked Smith-Capers as he moved back and forth between the store and his vehicle as he loaded the Yukon with stolen merchandise.
The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as well as the Holly Hill Police and Fire Departments, the Orangeburg County Fire District, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Winston David Holliday, Jr., of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.
18:844(i) did damage and destroy by fire a building and other real and personal property used in interstate and foreign commerce and in activity affecting interstate and foreign commerce with forfeiture allegations
(1)
Outcome: Defendant is committed to the custody of the BOP for 92 months with the court's recommendation that he be housed at FCI Fort Dix. Upon release from imprisonment the defendant shall be on supervised release for 3 years with standard and special conditions to include no new credit charges or lines of credit without USPO approval, disclosure of financial information to USPO, minimum monthly restitution payments of $100 beginning 60 days after release from imprisonment, and substance abuse testing. Special Assessment of $100.00 due immediately. Restitution of $716,525.81 due immediately, interest waived. Property outlined in the Preliminary Forfeiture Order is hereby forfeited.
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Defendant's Experts:
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