A Rock Hill man, Jacquese Traveon Underwood, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for orchestrating a drug trafficking operation while incarcerated within the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). The 40-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of fentanyl.
At the time of the conspiracy, Underwood was already serving a sentence for a separate drug trafficking offense. An investigation into a drug trafficking organization led by Darryl Hemphill revealed that Underwood used his existing criminal knowledge to continue his illicit business from within the prison system. Agents identified his involvement through monitored telephone calls and statements from others, learning that Underwood arranged the purchase and distribution of narcotics he obtained from Hemphill.
The drugs trafficked in the scheme included cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl-based pills. The investigation revealed that the fentanyl pills, which were produced by Hemphill’s organization at various locations around Rock Hill and Charlotte, were clandestinely manufactured to resemble prescription Oxycodone pills. Underwood and others also taught Hemphill the process for ordering, shipping, and receiving narcotics from Southern California.
Using associates on the outside, Underwood arranged for the drugs to be obtained from Hemphill in Rock Hill and then distributed to other individuals. While incarcerated, Underwood was found to have received a significant amount of narcotics from Hemphill, including at least 1,000 fentanyl-based pills, over 700 grams of methamphetamine, and approximately 312 grams of cocaine.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Underwood to 121 months of imprisonment, to be followed by a four-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This investigation and the resulting arrests are part of a larger Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) initiative, which uses a multi-agency approach to disrupt and dismantle high-level drug traffickers and criminal organizations. The collaborative effort involved federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies working to combat the distribution of dangerous narcotics in the region.
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