DRUG DEALING BROTHERS FACE AT LEAST TEN YEARS IN PRISON

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Hakeem Abduk Johnson, 27, and Raheem Abdus Salam Johnson, 27, of Cheraw, pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to sell crack and powder cocaine. The brothers face a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison and a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment. United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell accepted the pleas and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence reports which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence in the case established that a confidential informant working with the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office made two purchases of crack from the Johnson brothers in February of 2008. In August, deputies went to the Johnsons’ residence to serve arrest warrants, and found Hakeem Johnson inside the house with cocaine and a pistol in one of the bedrooms.

The case was investigated by the Marlboro and Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Offices and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney Rose Mary Parham of the Florence office is prosecuting the case as part of Project CeaseFire, an initiative of the United States Attorneys Office that seeks to aggressively prosecute gun-related crimes.