SC judges have reduced sentences of at least 27 prisoners, including murderers, since 2022

South Carolina judges have signed off on sentence reductions for more than two-dozen inmates since January of last year, including three men convicted of murder, according to data compiled by the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

The information, provided to the governor’s office earlier this week and shared Thursday with The State Media Co., was compiled in response to the recent early release Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning granted convicted murderer Jeriod Price.

Price, also referred to as Jeroid Price, was quietly released in mid-March after serving 19 years of a 35-year murder sentence. His release followed a secret meeting between his defense attorney, state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, and 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, that the South Carolina Supreme Court later voided.

The high court ordered that Price be returned to prison, but he has not complied with the order and is considered a fugitive whose whereabouts are unknown. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Richland County Sheriff’s Office this week offered a $30,000 reward for information that leads to his capture.

Price is one of at least 27 South Carolina inmates whose sentences were reduced by judicial order since 2022 and one of eight whose reductions resulted in their immediate release from prison, according to SCDC data.

Other inmates whose sentence reductions resulted in their immediate release include men charged with burglary, weapon and drug possession, DUI, drug trafficking, kidnapping, assault and battery, and murder.

“This report highlights the need for tougher criminal penalties and confirms the General Assembly needs to act today to close the revolving door on violent offenders and crack down on career criminals and illegal guns,” Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster, said in a statement Thursday.

Nicholas Geer is the only other convicted murderer whose recent sentence reduction resulted in his immediate release. Geer was convicted of murder in Anderson County in 1995, and sentenced to life in prison. He was released last September on the order of Judge Letitia Verdin after serving 27 years.

Geer was 17 at the time of the offense, which stemmed from a “drug deal gone bad,” according to the order granting his early release, and “likely would not have been prosecuted as a murder charge if the offense occurred today.”

Manning, who signed the order freeing Price on Dec. 30, 2022, granted six other sentence reductions that month, his last before retiring from the bench, according to SCDC data.

In total, Manning signed off on eight sentence reductions in 2022. No other judge signed off on more than 3, according to SCDC data.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.