COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — Edward Daniel Kimpton, Jr., 26, of Columbia, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and possession of stolen firearms.
Evidence presented to the Court showed that from June 2018 through his arrest in April 2020, Kimpton operated an elaborate fraud scheme that included the use of 16 pseudonyms or names, 58 e-mail addresses, and several financial accounts in false and fraudulent names.
During his scheme, Kimpton ordered high value products from individual sellers and retailers online and then diverted the packages mid-shipment, sometimes by posing as the seller or shipper. After he took possession of the packages, Kimpton filed claims that he never received them, causing money to be reverted and allowing Kimpton to take both the shipments and the money he purportedly paid. Kimpton defrauded at least 27 victims in 17 states.
During court-authorized searches in April 2020, ATF recovered from Kimpton what he amassed during the fraud – 94 firearms, including an illegal short-barreled shotgun and a .50 caliber rifle, as well as 7 illegal bump stocks, more than 23,000 rounds of ammunition, body armor, tactical helmets, tactical clothing, firearm scopes, gas masks, gas mask filters, indoor chemical gas grenades, firearm accessories, medic kits, and luxury consumer goods.
At sentencing, the Court held Kimpton accountable for the possession of machineguns for possessing the 7 bump stocks, which are devices that allow a semiautomatic firearm to shoot a continuous firing cycle by harnessing the recoil energy of the firearm. Bump stocks are illegal under federal law.
Senior United States District Judge Joe Anderson sentenced Kimpton to 5 years in prison, the maximum allowable under the plea agreement, to be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
At sentencing, the Court also ordered Kimpton to pay victims $44,317.15 in restitution. Restitution will be paid from $73,636.03 seized from a Kimpton bank account as fraud proceeds, and the Court ordered the balance to be forfeited.
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.
This case was investigated by the ATF and the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott B. Daniels prosecuted the case.
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