Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
COLUMBIA, S.C. —Jarman Lamar White, 38, of Rock Hill, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 400 grams of fentanyl and a quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that agents have learned White was responsible for selling drugs that were obtained from members of the Darryl Hemphill drug organization. Agents learned that one of the drugs obtained by this group were pills that resembled oxycodone 30 mg tablets, also known in the generic form as a Roxicodone. The replicate pills were produced by members of the organization. The pills were clandestinely manufactured with fentanyl at locations in Rock Hill and Charlotte.
During the investigation, multiple phone calls were intercepted between White and other members of the organization where White was heard acquiring cocaine and methamphetamine, in addition to fentanyl, from other members. Agents also learned that White allowed the organization to use the basement of his girlfriend’s home in Rock Hill to set up multiple pill press machines used to manufacture the fentanyl-laced pills. White and others were surveilled and observed moving the pills press machines into the basement of the residence. White allowed multiple members of the Hemphill operation to utilize this residence to store and later operate multiple pill press machines to clandestinely manufacture these fentanyl-laced pills. On one occasion, White and members of the organization made approximately 50,000 fentanyl-laced pills in the basement of the residence during a single day. White was paid a quantity of fentanyl-laced pills and several thousand dollars in return for using his residence.
At the time of White’s arrest in June 2018, agents conducted a search warrant at this residence and located multiple pill press machines, pill binder, masks/respirators, an industrial mixing machine, and a 9mm pistol which was in a backpack belonging to White.
In addition, after the arrest of the other members of the organization, agents of the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit completed three separate controlled purchase of fentanyl pills from White. Through these controlled purchases, agents learned White had continued to conspire with others to distribute fentanyl-laced pills after his initial arrest.
White faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. He also faces a fine of up to $20 million, restitution, and a 10-year term of supervision to follow the term of imprisonment. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the guilty plea and will sentence White after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is prosecuting the case.
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