MEN FACE LIFE IMPRISONMENT

More than a dozen South Carolina drug dealers have pled guilty to federal drug trafficking charges that could land them in prison for the rest of their lives.

U.S. Attorney Walt Walkins said Monday that the charges against 17 drug dealers, all of whom are from the Pee Dee region, span the past decade and involve more than one hundred of kilograms of powder cocaine and crack cocaine.

The group began entering guilty pleas last month, Wilkins said, and the last plea was entered late last week.

A total of 13 men, whose ages range from 22 to 37, face mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years in prison with a maximum possible penalty of life.

Four other individuals could get 10 years to life behind bars.

Local and federal law enforcement officials conducted undercover drug buys in the case, and seized drugs and money. Investigators also used the testimony of other cooperating federal defendants, including gang members from Florence and Darlington counties who were supplied by the group, so land the guilty pleas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham, who is prosecuting the case, said there was a dramatic decrease in the cocaine supply in Florence and Darlington counties following the 17 arrests.

“The case is yet another example of state and federal law enforcement agencies working together to have a tremendous impact on our community,” Parham said.

Authorities did not give a date for sentencing of the 17 men.