Staff reports
A Burton man who previously served a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking cocaine is again in prison.
Nathaniel Alexander Mims, 53, of Roseida Road, pleaded guilty Thursday, Oct. 24, to trafficking crack; trafficking cocaine; trafficking methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute crack; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of marijuana; possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime; resisting arrest; possession of a firearm by a violent felon; and failure to stop for blue light. Mims was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
“It didn’t take long for this defendant to go back to his old ways after being behind bars for nearly two decades,” said Monica Main of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “We can’t have this sort of behavior on our streets, poisoning our community. We will be safer with this defendant once again incarcerated.”
On Jan. 14, 2023, Mims was spotted by Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies driving 62 mph in a 35-mph zone along Pine Grove and Joe Frazier roads. Deputies reported that Mims shut off his lights and sped away, eventually running off the side of Joe Frazier Road into a tree.
Deputies captured Mims but only after he resisted arrest and refused to be handcuffed. Inside the vehicle Mims was driving, officers found ammunition, more than 100 methamphetamine pills, 11 grams of crack, 18 grams of cocaine and gun magazines.
Mims’ criminal history includes convictions for receiving stolen goods (1989); petit larceny, shoplifting, assault and battery, disorderly conduct (1990); two counts of possession with intent to distribute crack (1994); three counts of resisting arrest (1997); trafficking cocaine and simple possession of marijuana (2002); driving without a license and driving an uninsured motor vehicle (2021).
Circuit Court Judge Brian M. Gibbons handed down Thursday’s sentence. Main primarily prosecutes cases in Beaufort County. She has been with the Solicitor’s Office since 2023.
