COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison on a federal firearms charge.
Scott received the sentence at the federal courthouse in downtown Columbia late Wednesday afternoon. Scott pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance back in August.
The maximum sentence he could have received was 10 years. Before Judge Terry Wooten issued the penalty, he heard from Scott's father, aunt, and cousin, who testified to his character.
Scott was arrested earlier this year in Florence on federal firearms charges which accused him of illegally possessing guns, which he wasn't allowed to do because of a prior arrest on drug charges. It was his third arrest within 12 months.
Scott was later arrested back on July 16, after his probation officer filed paperwork in U.S. District Court asking the court to issue a warrant for Scott's arrest after she said he failed numerous court-ordered drug tests and failed to submit to drug testing.
Scott was the Chief of Police for the City of Columbia in 2011-2013. He resigned the position in 2013 citing post-traumatic stress disorder that he said developed after an officer's line-of-duty death during his Scott's previous tenure with the Richland County Sheriff's Department.
In May 2013, Scott returned to the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Scott left the sheriff's department in July of 2016 due to medical problems, according to officials.
