Contact Person: First Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Drake (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina------United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that nine individuals were charged in a 22-count indictment returned by the Florence Division Grand Jury for conspiring to distribute cocaine, cocaine base and heroin in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina [including Darlington, Florence and Williamsburg counties] in violation of Title 21, United States Code Section 846. This case originated with an investigation into the illegal activities of neighborhood street gangs in Hartsville, SC. Those recently indicted and arrested as part of this coordinated local, state and federal investigation were Otis Craig Dollard; Patrick O’Neal Hines, a/k/a “Bam”; Keith Huggins, a/k/a “Little Keith”; Justin Martin Jackson, a/k/a “Juiceman”; Benjamin Unique McCoy a/k/a “Paypa”; Chavis Vantay McCray, a/k/a “Chavo Manifoe”; Anthony James Pressley, a/k/a “Styler”; Roderick Scott, a/k/a “Bucket” and Tavares Lamore Wingate, a/k/a “Black.”
During the arrest and search warrants executed as part of this coordinated effort, law enforcement seized over a kilogram of cocaine, five ounces of cocaine base, cash and three firearms that were used as part of this drug trafficking network.
These arrests follow months of intense investigation and evidence collection by local, state and federal law enforcement partners that focused on concerns about violence, gangs and substantial drug trafficking in the Pee Dee area. Assisting in the investigation and apprehension operation included members of the FBI, SLED, Fifteenth Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit, Darlington County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Florence Police Department, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter Police Department, Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons Services.
The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Taylor. The United States Attorney stated that all charges in this Indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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