S.C. man sentenced to 106 months in federal prison for having cocaine and crack with plans to sell them

Florence, South Carolina – Rayshawn Mortress Tutt Smoot, aged 34 from Florence, received a sentence of over eight years in a federal prison after admitting guilt to charges of having cocaine and crack cocaine with plans to sell them, as well as having a gun to help him in his drug selling activities.

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The court learned that on August 11, 2022, a team made up of Florence Police Department investigators, Florence County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents set out to arrest Smoot in Florence due to him having outstanding arrest warrants. When they got to the place, they saw Smoot sitting in a car that was parked on an empty plot of land.

The team noticed a handgun with a big magazine on the car’s front passenger seat. A thorough search of the vehicle led to the discovery of about 33 grams of crack cocaine, roughly five grams of cocaine, a digital weighing scale, and a pack of sandwich bags, all found alongside the handgun. This handgun was equipped with a big magazine that was filled with 26 bullets.

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Judge Joseph Dawson, III, of the United States District Court, gave Smoot a sentence of 106 months in prison. After this, he must be under court supervision for five years. It’s important to note that the federal prison system does not allow for parole.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.

Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, Florence Police Department, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Hummel is prosecuting the case.