Columbia, SC – Three men and one woman from South Carolina received sentences for violent crimes targeting Hispanic individuals in Columbia, South Carolina. Charles Antonio Clippard, 27, was sentenced to 420 months; Michael Joseph Knox, 29, received 303 months; Gabriel Brunson, 21, received 100 months; and Sierra Fletcher, 34, was sentenced to 200 months.
These individuals previously admitted guilt to charges including carjacking, conspiracy, firearms offenses, and violating criminal civil rights. In early 2021, they conspired to rob Hispanic victims by approaching them at gas stations and grocery stores, later pursuing and robbing them at gunpoint at their residences or other locations. On January 30, 2021, the group committed an armed robbery and carjacking against a Hispanic victim, whom they followed and targeted at his home. Additional incidents that day involved carjacking another victim and a home invasion, leading to thefts of cash, cellphones, driver’s licenses, and credit cards.
The announcement of these sentences was made by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division,