SC man, whose 2021 arrest led to protests in Rock Hill, pleads guilty in 2020 drug case
A Rock Hill man, whose arrest 2021 in South Carolina was caught on video and sparked three days of race-related protests, has pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of crack cocaine distribution from a 2020 incident, according to court testimony.
Ricky Roderick Price, 36, was sentenced to three years probation Tuesday on a single count of distribution of crack, second offense, by Judge Michael Holt, testimony showed. Price sold around a tenth of gram of crack in September 2020, 16th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Tom Bowen said in court Tuesday.
A five-year prison sentence was suspended by Holt in lieu of probation. A conviction for distribution of crack cocaine, second offense, carries a potential prison sentence of five to 30 years, Holt said in court.
Price made no statements in court Tuesday except that he was pleading guilty.
Price’s lawyer, 16th Circuit Public Defender B.J. Barrowclough, said in court that the drug amount was tiny and Ricky Price is disabled.
“Probation is appropriate in this case,” Barrowclough said.
Sixteenth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Tom Bowen said during sentencing that Price has a criminal record dating back to 2011, which includes a previous drug conviction, and convictions for domestic violence, resisting arrest, and domestic violence.
Other 2020 drug charges against Ricky Price remain pending, Bowen said after court.
Price left the courthouse after Tuesday’s guilty plea. He remains on bail from the 2021 and other 2020 charges, court records show.
2021 arrests that led to protests still pending
Tuesday’s conviction has no relation to other pending charges against Ricky Price from the June 2021 incident, prosecutors Bowen and Matthew Shelton said after court
The 2021 arrest of Ricky Price was not mentioned in court by prosecutors, defense, or the judge.
Price has pleaded not guilty in the June 2021 arrests on charges of drugs, a weapon, and resisting arrest violations. The charges came after a traffic stop by the Rock Hill Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers. That arrest was caught on private video, released on Facebook, and led to three days of race-related protests.
In that June 2021 arrest, Price was in custody and giving personal items to his brother, Travis Price, when a fight broke out between Ricky Price and police.
Court documents and previous testimony allege Ricky Price punched an officer during the scuffle. Ricky Price also was punched by officers attempting to subdue him, according to police body camera video and previous court testimony. Ricky Price suffered a broken nose and other injuries, defense lawyer Barrowclough said in previous court hearings.
Ricky Price was free on bail from the 2020 arrests at the time of the 2021 incident, court documents and previous testimony show.
Ricky Price remained jailed in 2021 from the June arrest until he was freed on bail in October 2021.
Travis Price, who has no criminal record, also was taken to the ground by police and arrested in the June 2021 incident.
The arrests brought into question use of force by Rock Hill police. Protesters marched in the city for three days after confrontations with police in downtown Rock Hill near the police department.
Prosecutors and police released police body camera videos of the 2021 incident in July 2021 when a hindering police charge against Travis Price was dropped by prosecutors. A lawsuit filed by Travis Price against the city of Rock Hill and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman remains pending.
