The feds arrested, ‘humiliated’ a Richland man at work. He’s innocent and now he’s suing

It looked like a perfect arrest — a federal and West Columbia drug task force team swooped in and arrested Bryan M. Wilson at his workplace, charged him with numerous drug and gun offenses, handcuffed him and hauled him off to a federal magistrate.

But it wasn’t perfect at all.

Wilson was entirely innocent.

It was the start of a nightmarish six hours last December for the falsely arrested Wilson as justice went haywire and he suddenly faced 115 years in prison and fines up to $17 million.

No one believed him when he said officers had the wrong man. Or when he told them he didn’t sell drugs or guns. Over his protests, a magistrate judge formally charged him, read him his rights and appointed a federal public defender to represent him.

Now Wilson, who has no prior criminal record, has filed a federal lawsuit in the matter.

It turned out there was one person in the courtroom who believed him — Jenny Smith, his court-appointed federal public defender — and over several hours, she convinced a federal prosecutor to double check the arrest and see if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives didn’t, after all, have the wrong man.

After more investigation that day, the feds realized they had blown it. They made a motion to drop all charges against Wilson. Federal prosecutors apologized. U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs apologized.

Federal Judge Joe Anderson quickly granted a motion to dismiss the charges “with prejudice,” meaning they cannot be brought again.

No one has ever explained how the mixup happened. It apparently was not a case of mistaken identity.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court last week by Wilson’s lawyer, Christopher Kenney, recounts what happened after officers obtained an indictment from a federal grand jury for the wrong man and showed up at Wilson’s workplace last December.

“Mr. Wilson was arrested — humiliated and taken out of his workplace in handcuffs for a crime he not only did not commit but had no association with whatsoever,” the lawsuit said.

On Dec. 13, Wilson had been at work at Harsco Rail, 1005 Technology Drive, in West Columbia, where he was a material processor for the railroad equipment supplier.

As he worked his shift, law officers arrived at the business and began searching his car in the parking lot, the lawsuit said. Some of Wilson’s co-workers witnessed the search, the lawsuit said.

About 8:30 a.m., three plainclothes officers entered the general manager’s office, and shortly afterwards, Wilson was asked to come to the office, the lawsuit said.

Mr. Wilson’s supervisor walked him to the office. There, agents told him he was under arrest.

“When the agents told him what the charges were (selling large amounts of guns and drugs), Mr. Wilson told the agents they had the wrong person,” the lawsuit said.

The officers then handcuffed Wilson, patted him down, searched him and walked him out in handcuffs as his co-workers watched, the lawsuit said.

In the car on the way to the courthouse, Mr. Wilson called his brother, who then notified his parents. At the courthouse, Wilson was “booked,” and his fingerprints and mugshot were taken. Afterwards, he was locked in a cell for several hours.

His lawyer, Smith, gave him a copy of the indictment that listed all the charges against him — five counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

“As his attorney attempted to discuss the charges with Mr. Wilson, he repeatedly told her there was some sort of mistake,” the lawsuit said..

Finally, Wilson was brought before Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges, and the charges were formally read to him.

At that hearing, a law officer “falsely told the judge that ATF had been watching Mr. Wilson for 13 months and then listed dates the ATF falsely claimed he sold drugs. The agent also falsely told the judge that the Government had Mr. Wilson on tape committing these crimes,” the lawsuit said.

After the hearing, Wilson continued to tell his lawyer there had been a mistake. The lawyer pressed the issue with federal prosecutors and after several hours, the mistake was acknowledged.

Wilson was freed.

But Wilson has suffered since the events of that day, the lawsuit said.

He has begun having migraines. Rumors have been spread about him among his co-workers. He gets messages on Facebook. Some rumors say he “rolled” on other defendants and worse, the lawsuit said.

“He has stopped going to the gym or doing fight training — his fitness passion. He worries about his teenage daughter learning what happened to him. He also worries for his parents, specifically his mother who continues to feel paranoia and anxiety stemming from the incident and now calls her son while he is at work to check on his well-being,” the lawsuit said.

“Mr. Wilson is a father, brother, and son, and a law-abiding citizen who works for an honest living. He has never trafficked drugs. He is a lawful gun owner. He has no criminal record,” the lawsuit said.

Kenney said one of the purposes of the lawsuit is to find out exactly how this happened. Ordinarily, law officials in the federal system take great care in identifying the proper people whose names they bring before a federal grand jury. Prosecutors who work with front line law enforcement officers can ask about the suspects.

“Bryan is misidentified from the very first incident,” Kenney said. “One of the reasons to bring this case is to figure out what happened.”

Defendants in Wilson’s lawsuit are the two West Columbia police officers, Calvin Brown and David Thompson, who participated in the ATF task force arrest of Wilson.

Neither Brown nor Thompson have responded to messages left on their phones. A message was also left with West Columbia police chief Marion Boyce. He has not responded.

A City of West Columbia official said Monday none of the officials will be responding because the case is in litigation.

Kenney said he likely intends to sue ATF officers involved in the incident. But under the Federal Tort Claims Act, he cannot sue an agency of the federal government until six months after the alleged incident.