A former Lake City police officer found guilty of drug trafficking and extortion in October will serve 20 years in federal prison. Shanita McKnight, 35, was convicted Oct. 21 of drug trafficking and extortion charges after a five-day federal trial. U.S. District Court Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced her Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for each count, but the sentences will run concurrently. McKnight also must serve five years of probation for the drug trafficking charge and three years of probation for extortion. Wooten ordered the probation sentences to run concurrently, as well. [continues 851 words]
FLORENCE - A jury has convicted former Lake City Police Sgt. Shanita McKnight of drug trafficking and extortion charges after a five-day federal trial. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three and a half hours before handing down the verdict Tuesday evening. A male alternate juror was present during the trial but he was dismissed Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Terry L. Wooten after the 12 jurors said they were capable of deliberating. McKnight will be sentenced later. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years to life in prison and fines ranging from $4 million to $8 million. She also faces a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine and/or 20 years in prison for the extortion charge. [continues 672 words]
Thumbs up for the establishment of a drug court in Marlboro County. The program is for nonviolent offenders whose crimes are driven by addiction, 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge said, and began Monday when it was announced. Marlboro County joins Chesterfield - which also is in the 4th Judicial Circuit - Greenville and Laurens counties as the only ones in the state licensed by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to have their own in-house drug treatment program. A $350,000 grant from the federal government will allow the court to be conducted in Marlboro County for two years. [continues 135 words]
KINGSTREE - Community members filled the Williamsburg County School District board/staff development meeting room during a regular meeting Monday to voice their concerns about several items including an incident where a Kingstree bus driver took her students to the Williamsburg County Detention center and had police search them for drugs. During public participation Jeff Mayers, a parent of a 12-year-old who was on the bus, discussed the incident that occurred April 16, where a Kingstree bus driver took her students to the Williamsburg County Detention Center and had police search them for drugs before completing her route. "Our kids' rights were violated," Mayers said. "I don't think it's right to treat kids this way. I think they went too far. There's nothing stated in the handbook that the school can take my kid to a local jail." "We're outraged. Students feel uncomfortable about the situation," he said. "We're not going to let them sweep this under the rug." Mayers said he was told by students involved in the incident that the driver told police she smelled marijuana on the bus. Students were taken off the bus and told to open their bookbags, purses and pockets. Mayers said about 40 students between the ages of 11 and 17 were "patted down" by male officers, which made some female students uncomfortable. According to WCSC Live 5 News, Kingstree Police Chief Robert Ford says the search was legal because the driver smelled drugs, which gave them probable cause to search the bus. "The bus driver, because of what was happening on the bus, did what she felt was in the best interest of the safety of all the children on that bus," Williamsburg County School District Superintendent Ralph Fennell said. [continues 127 words]
A new bill proposed this week by a South Carolina senator would legalize the use of marijuana for medical applications. Sen. William Mescher, R-Pinopolis, introduced the legislation Tuesday, which has since been referred to the Senate's Committee on Medical Affairs. Mescher said his reasoning behind the controversial concept stems from the death of his first wife about 24 years ago from lung cancer. He said he recalled doctors at the time telling him some of her symptoms could have been eased with the use of medical marijuana, which has the effect of easing the nausea associated with cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. [continues 339 words]
Marion School District 1 has become one of the 32 school districts in the nation to receive funding through a three-year Safe and Drug Free School and Community grant to implement a new mandatory, random and suspicionless drug and alcohol policy. Students in grades 7 through 12 who play any school-sponsored sport are subject to random testing to help fight what Marion 1 Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Allread called a "significant community issue." Allread said she is proud to be in a school district where people have stepped forward to address this issue. [continues 607 words]
When the towns of Lamar and Society Hill decided to form a narcotics unit with the larger Darlington Police Department, it wasn't just to give the smaller departments more manpower to knock out their towns' drug activity. "I see it as an opportunity to help them, but also to help us" when Darlington's narcotics unit needs help, Darlington Police Chief Jay Cox said. The six-member team targets street-corner drug dealing and works undercover informants, Cox said. And the team doesn't focus on just one place; it weaves itself throughout the three municipalities. [continues 314 words]
FLORENCE - As you entered the parking lot of St. Anthony Catholic School on Thursday, you could see red ribbons hanging from the trees and hear screaming and laughing children as they released red balloons into the sky, signaling the end of the school's observance of Red Ribbon Week. Students, who donned hats and wore T-shirts backward, hung red ribbons on the trees and the fence surrounding the school as part of their pledge to be drug-free. They also helped decorate the front of the school with pictures and banners showing how they are committed to staying away from drugs. [continues 244 words]
CHERAW - Criminal defendants with drug addictions in Chesterfield County soon will have the opportunity to get their legal and substance abuse problems resolved. The Chesterfield County Drug Court, established through state government funds, will be operated through the 4th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office. Authorities are calling the addition a watershed moment in the system's handling of nonviolent offenders. At a press conference in Cheraw on Wednesday, Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, said implementation of the program "truly marks a shift in the way that we fight the drug problem in this area." [continues 403 words]
FLORENCE -- Coordinators are calling the recent multi-agency interdiction effort orchestrated by the Florence County Sheriff's Office a success, one that could likely to be duplicated before the year is out. During a five-day period beginning March 28, officers on the local, state and federal levels, acting on behalf of their host agencies, performed traffic enforcement at the area's two high-traffic corridors: Interstates 95 and 20. Instructed to enforce all local, state and federal laws, they also patrolled nearby roads in search of any and all criminal activity. Meanwhile, state transport police conducted safety inspections of commercial motor vehicles, Sheriff Kenney Boone said. [continues 352 words]
FLORENCE - A longtime Florence police officer was dismissed from her post and jailed by State Law Enforcement Division agents Friday morning amid allegations of illegal drug activity. Debravka "Debbie" Perry, 37, of 805-H Parker Drive, Florence, was arrested about 11 a.m. and later booked at the Florence County Detention on charges of distribution of crack cocaine and misconduct in office. The SLED investigation was conducted at the request of the Florence Police Department, Chief Anson Shells said. "When the allegations against Ms. Perry were brought to my attention, I immediately contacted (SLED) for their assistance," he said. "Subsequent to the outcome of that investigation, she is no longer an employee of the Florence Police Department." [continues 224 words]
Editor: I'm writing about Sen. Jon Kyl's not-so-thoughtful commentary: "Legalize drugs? Just Say No" (9-30-04). Why does Sen. Kyl want recreational drugs to remain completely unregulated and controlled by criminals? Only legal products can be regulated by our government. Only legal products can be controlled by our government. And only legal products can be taxed by our government. Jon Kyl is one of the leading drug war cheerleaders of the U. S. Senate. The prime beneficiaries of our current drug policies are drug dealers and drug lords. Is Senator Kyl being paid by the drug lords to campaign to keep the current counterproductive drug policies? Kirk Muse Mesa [end]
Editor's note: Those interviewed for this story requested that their last names be withheld to protect their identities. FLORENCE -- Chad is a 27-year-old businessman about to be married and on the brink of opening his own finance company. George is a 60-year old military veteran as well as a husband, father and member of a prominent area church. Maggie is 54 years old, holds a master's degree and is a licensed speech pathologist. Three accomplished lives. Three distinct lives. Three lives linked by a common secret. [continues 2300 words]
FLORENCE -- Opponents of a methadone clinic that plans to open on North Cashua Drive expressed their concerns to the Florence School District 1 Board of Trustees at Thursday night's board meeting. Beth Powers-Lamb, mother of two Carver Elementary School students, said her decision to send her children to the school would have been affected by the opening of a nearby drug treatment facility. "We are new to Florence, and were not Carver bound, but chose Carver over private schools," Powers-Lamb said. "But, our choice would have been very different had we known this would happen." [continues 485 words]
Some parents of Carver Elementary School students are expressing opposition to having a methadone treatment center in the vicinity of the school. On Friday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control approved a Certificate of Need for Starting Point of Florence. However, the proposed location of the clinic at 797 N. Cashua Drive is causing some concern. "There's very young children at that school, and in my opinion, this methadone clinic is too close," said Beth Powers-Lamm, who has two children at Carver. "I think these people are addicted to drugs and shouldn't be around young children." [continues 506 words]
FLORENCE -- The former owner of a Myrtle Beach pain clinic was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Monday for his leading role in what authorities have called one of the largest illegal OxyContin distribution rings in state history. David Michael Woodward, 45, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute Schedule II controlled substances (Oxycodone), conspiracy to launder money and health care fraud. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. Judge Weston Houck during a hearing at the McMillan Federal Building in Florence. [continues 485 words]
Last week, I dedicated this article to the ills of teenage driving offenses involving drugs and alcohol. More specifically, I talked directly about the Zero Tolerance law and the strict 0.02 percent blood alcohol concentration limitations and penalties for individual drivers under the age of 21. In keeping with this extended season of teenagers approaching the end of the school year, when they are more apt to be negatively influenced into making severe judgment errors, I thought we should explore another area that could financially affect their entire family. [continues 382 words]
FLORENCE -- Three former physicians were convicted Monday of illegal drug distribution, money laundering and criminal conspiracy in what authorities say they believe to be the largest prosecution of an OxyContin "pill mill" in state history. A jury deliberated Monday before delivering guilty verdicts against Drs. Ricardo Alerre, Deborah Bordeaux and Michael Jackson, all former employees of the Comprehensive Care and Pain Management Center in North Myrtle Beach. Alerre, Bordeaux and Jackson were the final defendants to be convicted on drug and money laundering charges connected to a multi-million dollar illegal narcotics ring that operated behind the facade of the pain clinic. [continues 532 words]
FLORENCE -- A former patient of the Comprehensive Care and Pain Management Center in North Myrtle Beach testified in federal court Wednesday that one of the three former clinic doctors on trial for illegal drug distribution, health care fraud and money laundering prescribed OxyContin to his fiancee when she was six months pregnant. Gerald Gantt is one of several former clinic patients who have testified in the ongoing trial of Drs. Ricardo Alerre, Deborah Bordeaux and Michael Jackson. Gantt said although he was never treated by Alerre, his fiancee was. He said despite the fact that she was six months pregnant, Alerre prescribed the powerful narcotic OxyContin. [continues 614 words]
FLORENCE -- The trial for the remaining three Myrtle Beach physicians charged along with five others in a multi-count federal indictment involving the distribution of OxyContin began Monday in Florence. Michael Jackson, 55, Deborah Bordeaux, 50, and Ricardo Alerre, 72, are on trial for illegal drug distribution, health care fraud and money laundering. Seven physicians and a non-physician employee were charged with conspiring to distribute and distributing controlled substances outside of the usual course of medical practice and for other than legitimate medical purposes while working at Comprehensive Care and Pain Management centers in Myrtle Beach. They were accused of dispensing Schedule II and III controlled substances including Hydrocodone, Percocet, Lortab, Valium, Xanax and Oxycodone in the form of OxyContin, which were not medically necessary. [continues 214 words]
