York County felon didn’t want a lawyer when he went on trial for heroin, meth charges.
A York County felon with a criminal record that dates back more than 30 years went to trial on drug charges this week without a lawyer and was sentenced to 14 years in a South Carolina prison.
Bruce Allen Buckner, 60, was convicted of third-offense possession of heroin with intent to distribute, one count of possession of meth, and illegal possession of a gun by a convicted felon, according to court records and prosecutors.
York County Circuit Court Judge Bill McKinnon sentenced Buckner to the S.C. Department of Corrections after a four-day trial that ended Friday afternoon at the Moss Justice Center in York.
The jury deliberated around 30 minutes before convicting Buckner, court officials said.
Buckner fired his court-appointed public defender attorney before the trial started and proceeded with the trial representing himself, according to court testimony and court officials.
Dan Porter, the 16th Circuit assistant solicitor who prosecuted Buckner, said Buckner had heroin, meth, scales, packaging materials, and the illegal pistol in a Rock Hill motel room in January 2020.
Buckner has previous convictions in South Carolina and federal court for bank robbery, criminal sexual conduct, weapons violations, drugs, and failure to register as a sex offender, according to Porter and South Carolina court records.
“The police did a superb job in this case and the end result is a sex offender, bank robber and drug dealer who was illegally armed is off the streets of this community and in prison,” Porter said after the trial.
Porter said Buckner, a convicted felon, is banned from having guns or ammunition by state and federal law.
