SC feds arrest man at work, take him to court. Now they admit he was the wrong guy
When Bryan Wilson was arrested at his Columbia area workplace Wednesday and hauled into federal court, law officers wrongfully believed he was one of nearly two dozen Columbia area accused criminals targeted for dealing in drugs and guns.
After all, a sealed federal indictment quietly issued on Dec. 5 accused Wilson of five counts of trafficking drugs like crack cocaine and meth and three counts of carrying a weapon in furtherance of a drug crime — enough to send him to prison for many a year. The indictment was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Major.
But it turns out, the feds had indicted the wrong guy and erroneously targeted Wilson as one of approximately 20 defendants in a major drug-and-guns crackdown they touted during a news conference on Thursday.
The charges against Wilson were quickly dropped, and the U.S. attorney issued an apology.
The mass arrests, led by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were announced Thursday in a news conference in which officials described an 18-month investigation described as “an advanced, intelligence-based, multi-faceted law enforcement operation” using undercover agents and informants to buy illegal drugs and guns.
Exactly how the feds targeted Bryan Wilson as part of that operation is now under scrutiny.
“We are really sorry this happened,” U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs, the state’s top federal prosecutor, said on Friday in a statement.
“Shortly after Mr. Wilson’s arrest, it came to our attention that he had been misidentified as the person involved in the charged conduct. Our office took immediate action to dismiss the charges and ensure his swift release from custody,” Boroughs said.
After Wilson was brought into Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges’ court for arraignment on Wednesday, his court-appointed attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Jenny Smith noticed something was wrong and brought it to the attention of federal prosecutors, who soon realized, yes, things were haywire.
“Jenny did a great job, going to the government, advocating for the young man, and to the government’s credit, they got to the bottom of it very quickly,” said chief South Carolina Federal Public Defender Bill Nettles.
Nettles said this type of mishap does not happen often.
“There are people who are arrested and who are proven not guilty. And there are people who are arrested and the charges are ultimately dismissed,” said Nettles.
“But this is a special case where a person is indicted under his real name, and he has nothing whatsoever to do with the offense,” Nettles said.
Later Wednesday, prosecutors made a motion to dismiss all charges against Wilson.
Federal Judge Joe Anderson quickly granted the motion. He dismissed the charges “with prejudice,” meaning they cannot be brought again.
ATF officials had no immediate comment.
A former federal prosecutor who did not want to be identified said prosecutors usually rely on information from law enforcement agents in presenting information to a grand jury for possible indictments.
But prosecutors also have the ability to question law officers about their information, and grand jury members can ask questions about evidence put before them, the former prosecutor said.
Bill Nettles (no relation to public defender Nettles), a former U.S. attorney in South Carolina, said of the mishap, “It just goes to show, the government is made up of humans, and humans make mistakes.”
Former U.S. Attorney Nettles also said this case shows why everyone needs a lawyer. “Without a good lawyer, where would that guy have been?”
Wilson could not be reached for comment.
