Three Arrested for Failure to Register as Sex Offenders

Columbia, SC -The United States Marshals Service, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department have arrested three men that were wanted by Lexington County for Failure to Register as Sex Offenders. Scott Martin was arrested last night at approximately 7:00 PM inside a mobile home on Edmund Highway in Lexington. James Priester was apprehended this morning just after 8:30 AM at a residence on Bluff Road in Gadsden. Finally, Gregory Staley was taken into custody at noon inside another residence on Neely Wingard Road in Gilbert. Staley was also wanted by the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services for a Probation Violation on an underlying charge of Committing Lewd Acts with a Minor. All three men were booked into the Lexington County Detention Center awaiting court proceedings. Both the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department have investigators that are members of the Marshals’ fugitive task force, Operation Intercept.

Established in 1789, the United States Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency. In fiscal 2005, the Marshals arrested more than 35,500 federal fugitives, clearing 38,500 felony warrants. Marshals Service-led task forces like South Carolina’s Operation Intercept arrested 44,000 state and local fugitives, clearing 51,200 state and local felony warrants. Locally, Operation Intercept arrested over 2,900 South Carolina fugitives during that same period. More information about the Marshals and other South Carolina fugitives can be found on the web at www.usmarshals.gov.