COLUMBIA, S.C. — State prosecutors have charged 100 people in what they said Monday was the largest number of defendants ever indicted in one drug operation in South Carolina courts.
Ten of those charged are currently state prison inmates who used contraband cellphones to continue to run drug rings and other criminal enterprises behind bars, state Attorney General Alan Wilson told a news conference.
Investigators also arrested a paralegal who was sending drugs and cellphones into prison inside hollowed-out transcripts of criminal proceedings, authorities said.
>> To see the names of all of the defendants and the charges against them, click here.
Wilson and Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling again called to be able to jam cellphone signals in state prisons, something not allowed under federal law.
Instead of prison isolating inmates from their criminal rings, cellphones make it easier and more efficient to sell drugs, extort money and other illegal acts.
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“The prison is now an incubator program for their criminal enterprise,” Wilson said.
The State Grand Jury issued nearly 500 indictments earlier this month against the 100 defendants. Along with drug counts, there were kidnapping, burglary and other charges.
“You see all those crimes up there? Think of how many people’s lives have been ruined,” Stirling said.
Investigators called the case “Prison Empire” and said they have seized 44 pounds of methamphetamine, 11 pounds of heroin and 3 pounds of cocaine, as well as 82 firearms.
The drug ring is responsible for bringing more than 2,200 pounds of methamphetamine into South Carolina, prosecutors said.
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