COLUMBIA, S.C.
A federal judge sentenced a 33-year-old man to eight years in prison for shooting a DEA agent serving a search warrant at the defendant’s house, officials said.
DEA agents obtained the warrant to search his home for chemicals used to manufacture PCP.
Despite the shooting of the DEA agent, the other 19 agents at the scene didn’t fire back at Robinson, but moved quickly to take him into custody, officials said.
Joel Perrin Robinson, of Orangeburg, S.C., was sentenced Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs also ordered Robinson to pay restitution in the amount of $82,518 along with paying medical bills occurred by the DEA agent.
On February 9, Robinson plead guilty to a charge of using a deadly weapon to assault an officer serving a search warrant.
“This defendant shot an agent even though the agent was wearing a vest that clearly displayed the word “POLICE” in large, bold letters,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “Instead of returning fire, the agents took the defendant into custody without further incident. Their poise under fire reminds us of the challenges that law enforcement agents face every day while serving and protecting the community.”
According to the evidence, this is what happened:
- On July 6, 2013, a house in Fairburn, Georgia burned to the ground. It burned for two days, and when investigators were finally able to enter the house, they found the charred remains of a large, clandestine phencyclidine (“PCP”) laboratory.
- Investigation into those responsible for the fire led DEA agents to Robinson’s residence.
- On October 20, 2014, DEA agents executed a search warrant at Robinson’s Orangeburg, South Carolina home for chemicals used to manufacture PCP.
- The agents announced their presence by sounding sirens, flashing lights, and yelling “Police, Search Warrant!” When the agents entered, Robinson grabbed a laser-sighted pistol and fired it into a wall without ever identifying a target.
- Robinson then put on slippers, walked to a door leading out to a swimming pool, and opened it.
- Standing in the pool area were two DEA agents.
- Robinson activated the laser sight on his weapon and aimed it at one of those agents, who was wearing a ballistic vest with the word “POLICE” written across the front in yellow letters.
- Robinson shot that agent, hitting him in the arm, causing serious injury.
- None of the other 19 DEA agents at the scene fired back at Robinson.
“This investigation is a reminder of the dangers that law enforcement officers endure daily while protecting and serving the public,” said Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division.
Adding “Through training and tactics, the officers in this case showed poise by not returning fire, despite being fired upon. Instead, they identified and neutralized the threat. This investigation was successfully prosecuted because of the collective effort between DEA, federal, state and local law enforcement and the United States Attorney’s Office.”