ROCKINGHAM — A South Carolina man with a local conviction history dating back more than 20 years is now facing a weapon charge.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy patrolling East Rockingham around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24 noticed “a suspicious vehicle” in the Aleo area.
The deputy reportedly ran the license tag and found the vehicle was uninsured.
A traffic stop was reportedly conducted and the driver was identified as 49-year-old Michael Carlton Turner, of Bennettsville, South Carolina.
Since there was no insurance coverage, a tow truck was called to move the vehicle, a press release states.
A .22-caliber handgun was reportedly found during a tow-in inventory. State records show Turner has a half-dozen prior felony convictions, which prohibit him from having a gun.
Turner was arrested and charged with a single count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $2,500 secured bond, but did not appear in jail records Thursday morning.
Online court records show Turner has an appearance scheduled for Sept. 8 and no other pending charges.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Turner has only been off parole for 13 months after serving just under three months behind bars when convicted in 2020 of possession with intent to sell a Schedule II controlled substance and maintaining a place for a controlled substance in Brunswick County.
Turner was first convicted in 1996 on a misdemeanor charge of assault on a female in Richmond County.
He caught his first felony conviction in 2000 for possession with intent to sell a Schedule II controlled substance — as well as driving with a revoked license and a probation revocation for a 1999 misdemeanor larceny conviction —and he served less than four months behind bars.
The following year, Turner was convicted of driving while impaired, and in 2005 on two counts of felony breaking and entering. His probation on those three convictions was revoked in 2006, resulting in a nine-month incarceration.
Turner was also convicted in 2013 of possession or distribution of a meth precursor, for which he served a year.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
