‘Social guest’ at secret SC fentanyl lab? Defendant in bust wants drug evidence tossed

Just days after a federal judge rejected one defendant’s effort to toss out evidence of 60-plus pounds of fentanyl seized in the largest drug bust in York County history over claims the site was a “man cave,” a second suspect wants the drug evidence suppressed.

The lawyer for Quonzy Lanard Hope claims Hope was a “social guest” at a mobile home federal prosecutors and police say was a secret drug lab near the Lake Wylie shore between Charlotte and Rock Hill.

In the written motion filed Wednesday night, Hope’s high-profile attorney, Jack Swerling, stated the York County judge who issued the search warrant in October 2022 acted as “a rubber stamp for police.”

However, when defendant Timario Gayton’s lawyers suggested the mobile home was a “party house” where he too was a “social guest,” U.S. District Court Judge Sherri Lydon wrote last week that the evidence “overwhelmingly” showed the trailer was used for manufacturing fentanyl pills. Lydon denied Gayton’s attempt to suppress the seizure.

The suppression motion was filed Wednesday when the second of four men charged in the case pleaded guilty, with requirements by both guilty men to testify for federal prosecutors against others if asked.

Four men were charged in state and federal courts after the search and seizure. Thomas Anthony Perry, Javaris Latrey Johnson, Hope and Gayton all were arrested in October 2022 and have been in jail ever since.

The October 2022 search

A federal agent testified last week in court that on Golden Pond Drive near Lake Wylie in October 2022, police seized almost 30 kilograms of fentanyl, including 160,000 pills and 7.8 kilograms of powder. Police also found 1.8 kilograms of cocaine, 700 grams of methamphetamine, 1.5 kilograms of heroin, and 1.2 kilograms of para-fluorofentanyl, court documents show.

Police also seized guns, more than $50,000 in cash, a vacuum sealer and money counter, around 60 pounds of pill binder, pill dyes, and stamps bearing the copyrighted symbols used by pharmaceutical companies that manufacture OxyContin pills, according to court documents.

The search and arrests involved a months-long investigation that included federal Drug Enforcement agents, York County drug police, and other law enforcement, records show.

At a news conference after the Lake Wylie seizure, local officials, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Lindsey Graham said the amount of fentanyl taken from the trailer was enough to kill the entire population of South Carolina.

Case suspects: 2 have pleaded guilty, 2 pending

Perry of Rock Hill and Johnson of Clover have pleaded guilty in federal court and face 10 years to life in prison.

Hope and Gayton, both of Rock Hill, have pleaded not guilty. They each face up to life in prison if convicted.

Three high-profile, famous lawyers

Now, both Gayton and Hope, through their high-profile lawyers, have tried to get the search and seizure tossed. Gayton is represented by Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, who represented convicted killer Alex Murdaugh in a 2023 murder trial and financial crime spree that was worldwide

Hope is represented by South Carolina defense attorney Swerling, who has been a lawyer for more than 50 years and has been at the center of many of the state’s biggest cases. Swerling, of Columbia, has appeared on CourtTV, CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, and other media sites.

In the motion to have the drug evidence tossed, Swerling claims information police presented to a York County judge before the October 2022 raid to get a search warrant was old, and nothing is known about the reliability of an alleged confidential informant. The York County judge who signed the search warrant is not named in the court motion.

The Hope motion filed by Swerling states, “Respectfully, by issuing the search warrant, the magistrate acted as a ‘rubber stamp,’ as the sources were not shown to be reliable, the information provided was stale, and thus probable cause was not shown.”

Hope, through Swerling’s motion, wants all “fruit of the poisonous tree” from the search suppressed, the motion states.

What is fentanyl?

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. The DEA says fentanyl is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive and lethal.

Area police say fentanyl is more prevalent and easier to get than ever before, the Charlotte Observer and The Herald have reported.

Fentanyl-related overdoses have spiked in the region in recent years. In York County in 2022, 90 of 111 overdose deaths were attributed to fentanyl, according to the York County Coroner.

What happens now?

Federal prosecutors have not yet filed a reply to Hope’s motion to throw out the drug evidence from the search. It remains unclear if Lydon, the federal judge, will order a hearing on Hope’s motion after she ruled a week ago against Gayton’s similar claim days after a hearing.

No trial date has been set for Hope and Gayton, though jury selection could happen as early as January, court records show. They both pleaded not guilty.

Sentencing dates have not been set for Johnson and Perry who have pleaded guilty.