4 South Carolina men charged in secret Lake Wylie drug lab to remain in federal custody

Andrew Dys
·2 min read
9

Four South Carolina men charged in connection to the largest fentanyl drug seizure in York County history will remain jailed, a federal judge has ruled.

In October police seized more than 60 pounds of fentanyl, and pounds of cocaine and meth, federal documents show. Agents said the four were at a “clandestine lab” in a mobile home near the Lake Wylie shore between Charlotte and Rock Hill, according to Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) documents in the case.

Federal indictments in U.S. District Court in Columbia charge: Quonzy Lanard Hope, 33; Thomas Anthony Perry, 29; Javaris Latrey Johnson, 35; and Timario Martez Gayton, 30. They are charged with conspiring together with intent to distribute the drugs, and possessing the drugs with intent to distribute.

All four suspects made their first appearance in federal court Wednesday where they were arraigned. Each had been in the York County jail without bail since they were arrested.

All four pleaded not guilty in court Wednesday, court records show.

Federal Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges kept all four in custody without bond after the suspects and their lawyers waived a detention hearing, court documents show.

The four suspects could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Federal and SC charges

The suspects face both federal and South Carolina drug charges.

When arrested in October by York County drug agents, the suspects were charged with drug trafficking for the cocaine and meth and possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute. South Carolina does not have a fentanyl trafficking charge.

Federal and local drug agents and prosecutors say the operation along the lake, which straddles York and Mecklenburg counties, was operating in the Southeastern United States and was a cartel-connected lab.

Both the federal and state charges remain pending in court.

No trial dates have been set.

Fentanyl and overdoses

Officials held a news conference in late October after the arrests and seizure attended by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, members of York County and Rock Hill law enforcement, and York County prosecutors. Officials warned of overdose dangers at that news conference.

Seven pill presses were seized, along with the drugs four guns, and more than $50,000 in cash, according to DEA and York County drug unit documents filed in the case.

Fentanyl has created a new level of danger in the Charlotte region and is the most common illegal drug locally, police told The Charlotte Observer earlier this year.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA says fentanyI is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive — and lethal.