Imprisoned gang members used contraband cellphones to orchestrate kidnappings, drive-by shootings and murders of people who threatened their $50 million-a-year drug trafficking operation
Federal prosecutors indicted 40 suspected members of Insane Gangster Disciples gang in South Carolina s largest-ever racketeering conspiracy case
Four of the suspects are accused of orchestrating murders, kidnappings and drive-by shootings, and running $50million-a-year drug empire from prison
Prosecutors say jailed defendants relied on contraband cellphones to order hits and coordinate methamphetamine trafficking
James Man Man Peterson, who is serving 30-year sentence for murder, is accused of ordering killing of Michelle Dodge
Dodge, 27, was kidnapped, waterboarded and shot in the back of the head in July 2019 because Peterson suspected her of being a police informant
South Carolina prison inmates ordered murders and kidnappings using contraband phones, feds say
December 11, 2020 / 11:41 AM / AP South Carolina prison riot video
Federal authorities have indicted 40 people in what they say is South Carolina s largest racketeering conspiracy case in history, stemming from four state inmates orchestrating hits and trafficking drugs by using contraband cellphones while behind bars. The U.S. Attorney in South Carolina called it a sprawling criminal enterprise.
The 147 counts in the indictment range from drug and firearm charges to those related to a murder, a kidnapping and two drive-by shootings, prosecutors said Thursday at a news conference outside of Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. The crimes occurred between 2017 and this year.
40 charged in largest racketeering conspiracy in South Carolina history
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U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy, Jr., of the District of South Carolina on Thursday announced 40 people have been charged in the state s largest-ever racketing case. Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney s Office for the District of South Carolina/Twitter
Dec. 11 (UPI) Authorities in South Carolina have charged dozens for participating in a sprawling criminal enterprise of murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking orchestrated by inmates in state correctional facilities, making it the largest racketeering conspiracy in the state s history, the Justice Department said.
U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy, Jr., of the District of South Carolina announced before the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia on Thursday a 147-count indictment charging 40 people.
U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Peter McCoy. Gang members imprisoned in South Carolina used contraband cellphones to run a sprawling drug empire that left a trail of violence and death in the Palmetto State, according to a federal grand jury investigation. File/Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff
File/Andrew Whitaker/Staff
Corrections Director Bryan Stirling talks during a tour of Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, April 10, 2019. File/AP
Meg Kinnard
COLUMBIA â Gang members imprisoned in South Carolinaâs Department of Corrections used contraband cellphones to run a sprawling drug empire that left a trail of violence and death in the Palmetto State, according to a massive federal grand jury investigation unveiled Thursday.
40 People Charged In Biggest Racketeering Conspiracy In South Carolina History
A federal grand jury has indicted 40 people in South Carolina in what is alleged to be the biggest racketeering conspiracy in the state’s history, with charges that include orchestrating murder and kidnapping, and distribution of drugs and firearms.
The Justice Department said in a release Thursday, that the 147-count indictment (pdf) against defendants across South Carolina alleges that inmates with the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), often by means of contraband cellphones, orchestrated murder, kidnapping, firearms distribution, and an international drug operation.
“The defendants allegedly operated a violent and lucrative drug enterprise on behalf of the Insane Gangster Disciples while incarcerated,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in a statement.