Contact Person: Lance Crick (864) 282-2105
SPARTANBURG, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that three Spartanburg County residents were indicted last week by a federal grand jury sitting in Greenville, with firearms and other offenses.
Rodney Juan Baker, 56, of Spartanburg, was indicted for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 922(g)(9). This case was investigated by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Derrick Casey, 37, of Spartanburg, was indicted for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). This case was investigated by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Hector Gonzalez, 31, of Spartanburg, was indicted for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). This case was investigated by the Spartanburg Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
All charged individuals are considered innocent until proven guilty.
Each of these cases are a direct result of “Home Front”, a focused deterrence-based initiative to combat domestic violence led by 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette. The initiative launched in December of 2016 and has the support and partnership of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
These cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Wells, who is a 7th Circuit Assistant Solicitor specially designated by the United States Attorney’s Office to handle cases from the Seventh Circuit.
Modelled after a program started in High Point, North Carolina, members of the Home Front task force began earlier this fall, meeting with representatives from every police department in Spartanburg county as well as the Sheriff’s Office. The Spartanburg County State Probation office and victim’s advocate stalwart, SAFE Homes, also serve as critical partners in this effort.
Under the guidance of Solicitor Barnette and High Point (NC) Chief Marty Sumner, Home Front has quickly gone from concept to reality. High Point’s model and research suggests that early intervention is key in stopping the cycle of violence. The Home Front strategy identifies and focuses on offenders at the earliest stages of offending, before their violent conduct is entrenched and escalating.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence is a community crime problem that costs the United States over $5.8 billion every year. It is a major drain on law enforcement resources as domestic violence generates a high volume of calls and repeated calls to the same location. Domestic violence homicides make up 40–50 percent of all murders of women in the United States. Women who have experienced a history of domestic violence report more health problems than other women and they have a greater risk for substance abuse, unemployment, alcoholism, and suicide attempts.
Research shows that the repeat domestic violence offender tend to have a significant criminal history that includes a wide range of both domestic violence and non-domestic violence offenses. Most of these offenders are readily identified as they are known to the criminal justice system. The Home Front initiative exposes the repeat domestic violence offender to sanctions because of his pattern of criminal behavior.
According to the 2015 Violence Policy Center When Men Murder Women report, South Carolina led the nation in rates of women murdered by men. Sixty-six percent (66%) of the victims were killed with a firearm and ninety-six percent (96%) of women murdered were killed by someone they knew.
In Spartanburg County during the 2015 calendar year, SAFE Homes serviced 6726 victims of domestic violence. In the same time frame, the Spartanburg Police Department charged 907 domestic violence cases and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office charged 1068 domestic violence cases. There were fourteen (14) domestic related deaths in Spartanburg County in 2015.
Solicitor Barnette has had enough. “Domestic violence is violence, period. It continues to plague our community--so costly and harmful to families and children, persisting year after year. It is time for these offenders to get our best shot—our best efforts. That is Home Front.”
United States Attorney Beth Drake agrees. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) welcome the opportunity to partner with Solicitor Barnette and state law enforcement, and to use federal gun laws to pull violent offenders who are abusing their families and loved ones out of the community. The goal is simple – stop the abuse, or swift and sure, the full force of a coordinated law enforcement effort will come to bear to stop you from abusing. Home Front takes the burden of addressing abusers from the victims and shifts it to us – a very engaged group of local, state, and federal law enforcement.”
The Home Front task force began a thorough, eight-step implementation process in the fall. The steps included training officers, synchronizing the coding of calls among the law enforcement agencies to harmonize communication--to create a back stop of sorts so that no domestic calls or offenders slip through the cracks among the sixteen municipal law enforcement entities in Spartanburg County. Very early in the implementation process, the task force began creating a comprehensive list of domestic violence offenders from the previous twelve months of arrests in Spartanburg County for domestic-related incidents. Offenders were categorized from most dangerous (Class A), repeat offender (Class B), first time DV arrest (Class C), and any non-arrest domestic violence interface with law enforcement (Class D).
For the most serious or repeat offenders, pending cases are fast-tracked to ATF and the US Attorney’s Office for immediate federal prosecution or prioritized for expedited state prosecution. One of those fast-tracked offenders, James Lee Sarratt, Jr., age 49, of Spartanburg, was arrested on a federal gun charge by the ATF in October 2016 on conduct stemming from a domestic call in Spartanburg in late September 2016 where an individual had been shot. Sarratt was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2016 and entered a guilty plea at his first opportunity to do so on January 11, 2017 in federal court. Sarratt has been in custody, detained without bond, since his arrest and currently awaits sentencing. He faces up to ten years in federal prison.
See link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/spartanburg-initiative-combat-domestic-violence-results-first-guilty-plea
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This process incorporated by the Home Front task includes creating an enhanced system of tracking for offenders who are notified at any level or category. Custom notification letters, hand-delivered by law enforcement to offenders within 48 hours of the initial law enforcement contact, serve to alert offenders that they are on the Home Front radar going forward as well as detailing presumptive sentences for future acts of violence or prohibited behavior.
Solicitor Barnette is optimistic about the collaboration and is confident the focus and dedication of this task force will not waiver. “Securing our communities and ensuring that victims and children can feel safe in their own homes—breaking this horrific cycle of violence, that is our charge.”
Home Front Task Force:
City of Spartanburg Police Department
City of Campobello
City of Pacolet Police Department
City of Chesnee Police Department
City of Cowpens Police Department
City of Duncan Police Department
City of Greer Police Department
City of Inman Police Department
City of Landrum Police Department
City of Lyman Police Department
City of Wellford Police Department
City of Woodruff Police Department
Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office
Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport Police Department
Victim Advocates
Victim Services Providers
Behavioral Health
SC Dept. of Probation, Pardon and Parole Services
U. S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office
SAFE Homes
Children’s Advocacy Center of Spartanburg, Cherokee, & Union
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