Columbia man ensnared in federal sting pleads guilty to distributing meth

A Columbia man charged last year in a federal crackdown on violent crime in South Carolina pleaded guilty this week to distributing methamphetamine and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said.

Michael Wright, 46, was swept up late last year in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation in West Columbia targeting criminal groups engaged in gun and drug trafficking.

The operation, known as Project Safe Neighborhoods, brought together several levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun violence in local communities across the country.

As part of the West Columbia sting, the ATF set up a “controlled buy” location where undercover agents and confidential informants bought firearms and drugs from criminal targets in the area, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Wright was one of 20 people charged last December following the operation, which netted 210 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, federal officials said. Those arrested included members of the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciple street gangs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to evidence presented to the court, Wright contacted an undercover agent over social media about the sale of methamphetamine and later sold the agent more than 700 grams of the drug on five separate occasions, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Wright was charged in December 2023 with conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, six counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

He pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment to be followed by five years of court-ordered supervision, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.