A Lexington woman was sent to prison for 9 years for meth and firearm charges.
Natalie Michelle Quarles, 45, was sentenced after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, US Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr. announced Friday.
The charges stem from a traffic stop that occurred in Lexington on July 3, 2018.
According to evidence presented in court, a deputy with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle for failure to maintain its lane on July 3, 2018. Quarles was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.
When the deputy asked for her driver’s license, Quarles admitted that her license was under suspension and that she had been deemed a habitual traffic offender by the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. The deputy verified the information through dispatch.
While placing her under arrest for driving under suspension, Quarles stated that she had a gun as well as some marijuana and pills in the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, the deputy found a loaded firearm, approximately $1,400 in cash, marijuana, oxycodone and acetaminophen pills, hydrocodone and acetaminophen pills, amphetamine pills, and methamphetamine.
Quarles admitted to the deputy that she knew she was prohibited from possessing the firearm.
Officials say Quarles is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition based upon her prior state convictions. 
In 2008, she received concurrent sentences of 5 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, 4 years for grand larceny, 1 year for receiving stolen goods greater than $5,000, 2 years for burglary 2nd degree non-violent, and 2 years for strong-arm robbery. 
Following her release from prison, she was convicted in 2014 of false information and driving under suspension. In 2015, she was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and shoplifting, sentenced to 18 months, and placed on state probation for 18 months. One year later, Quarles violated her probation and it was revoked.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Quarles to 108 months in federal prison, to be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision. 
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Casey Rankin Smith of the 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecuted the case.