Columbia, SC (WLTX) — Lancaster, SC (WLTX) - Two people will now serve prison time for stealing machine guns and a grenade launcher from a National Guard armory in South Carolina.
Lancaster residents Austin Lee Ritter, 23, and Kimberly Denise Cannon, 40, received their terms behind bars after each of them plead guilty in June to being a felon in possession of firearms and to possession of machine guns and destructive device not registered to them.
In the morning hours of Nov. 26, 2017, an officer with the Lancaster Police Department conducted a traffic stop on the car driven by Cannon after observing her littering. During the traffic stop, officers found a FHN model M249 5.56mm machine gun, two Colt model M-16 5.56mm machine guns, two Beretta model M9 9mm pistols, one Colt M203 40mm grenade launcher, night vision goggles, and various military items stolen from the Lancaster National Guard Armory.
After the traffic stop, Ritter and co-defendant Brandon Shane Polston were found in a Lancaster motel room in possession of a small quantity of methamphetamine. Surveillance video from the motel showed Ritter, Cannon, and Poston bringing bags containing firearms back and forth between the vehicle and motel room. Searches of their cell phones revealed various photos and text messages relating to the firearms and sale of firearms.
According to case records, Polston stole the firearms from the Lancaster National Guard Armory and then directed Cannon to take him and Ritter to an area near the armory, where they retrieved the stolen goods and transported them to the motel.
Some of the stolen firearms were later recovered in the possession of other felons in the area, while other firearms remain missing.
Ritter and Cannon have prior state convictions, prohibiting them from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law. Ritter has prior convictions for accessory after the fact of a felony, possession of a controlled substance, breach of trust, receiving stolen goods, and theft of a controlled substance.
Cannon, who was on probation from a North Carolina conviction, has prior convictions for shoplifting, assault and battery, and obtaining property by false pretenses.
US District Judge Michelle Childs sentenced Ritter to 3 years and 3 months in federal prison, with 3 years of supervised release to follow. Cannon was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison, with 3 years of supervised release to follow. There is no parole in the federal system.
Polston has also pled guilty to federal charges and will be sentenced on Dec. 14.