Jason Cory Dix, age 42, of Lexington, was sentenced to 99 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia imposed the sentence. After 99 months, Dix will remain under court-ordered supervision for an additional 3 years. There is no parole in the federal system. 

Special Assistant United States Attorney Casey Rankin Smith of the 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecuted the case.

On June 8, 2018, Lexington County Sheriff's Department deputy working patrol saw a black SUV waiting to exit the parking lot. The driver, later identified as Dix, quickly grabbed his seatbelt and fastened it. No visible tag was observed on the vehicle.

As the deputy turned around, he observed the SUV traveling at a high rate of speed and then run the red light prompting the initiation of a traffic stop. Failing to stop, Dix reached speeds of 104 mph before colliding with another vehicle, the driver of which was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

During a search of the SUV, a Ruger P-89 9mm as well as 2 loaded magazines were found in the floorboard of the vehicle. Dix admitted that the firearm and ammunition were his.    

Federal law prohibits Dix from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon multiple prior state convictions: a 1996 assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a 1998 possession of crack cocaine, 3 counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle in 1999, a 2005 manufacturing methamphetamine and trafficking methamphetamine, and a 2016 manufacturing methamphetamine 2nd offense. Dix was on probation at the time of this offense.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. It was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.