Members of a Midlands Drug Conspiracy Sentenced to Federal Prison in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Twelve members of a Midlands drug conspiracy have been sentenced to federal prison. In total, over 15 kilograms of fentanyl, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of crystal meth, 1 kilogram of crack cocaine, and 500 grams of meth were attributed to the conspiracy.

The following individuals have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a fentanyl, meth, cocaine, and crack cocaine drug trafficking conspiracy:

• Devin Terell Faulk, 36, of West Columbia, was sentenced to 275 months' imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Winner Cheerbinson Cherisol, 65, of Columbia, was sentenced to 85 months' imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Willie Geiger, 35, of Gaston, was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Bradley Jamal Foster, 31, of Gaston, was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Darryl Pou, 52, of Columbia, was sentenced to 63 months' imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Dasia Mischell Reed, 24, of Gaston, was sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
• Kevin Jerrod Mungin, 34, of Columbia, was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
• Wade Jerome Jenkins, 70, of Columbia, was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
• Allison Way, 53, of Gaston, was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
• Darryl Lewis Brown, 48, of Columbia, was sentenced to time served and a term of supervised release of three years.
• Shyterria Shianne Shonta Suber, 32, of Columbia, was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
• Donna L. Parks 49, of West Columbia, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.

Evidence presented to the court revealed that on March 25, 2021, Lexington County Sheriff's deputies arrested Faulk on an outstanding warrant and booked him into the Lexington County Detention Center. In October of 2023, Faulk was sentenced to prison for assault and battery 1^st degree and trafficking cocaine. During his time in the detention center and continuing until August of 2024 after Faulk was transferred to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, he ran a complex and multi-faceted drug operation.

Cherisol was Faulk's main supplier of fentanyl and cocaine. Cherisol, a Haitian national, had been previously deported for a federal drug trafficking conviction and was living in the United States unlawfully under a false identity, including false passports and driver's licenses. Faulk would use contraband phones to set up the quantity of drugs to be purchased from Cherisol. Faulk would then contact his sister, Dasia Reed, to meet Cherisol and purchase the drugs. Reed sometimes obtained money for the purchases from codefendants Parks and Suber, who Faulk used to store his drug proceeds. Faulk then coordinated sales with customers and instructed Reed and her boyfriend, Geiger, to deliver the drugs purchased from Cherisol and other suppliers to various customers.

Investigators infiltrated Faulk's drug trafficking organization and conducted several controlled purchases of large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and ice, also known as crystal meth, from Reed and Geiger as directed by Faulk while Faulk was incarcerated. Investigators learned Faulk exchanged money and narcotics to a network of drug traffickers including Foster, Way, Mungin and Pou. In addition to supplying Faulk, Cherisol supplied Brown with cocaine and Jenkins with fentanyl. Jenkins acted as a middleman between Cherisol and other drug traffickers.

"Faulk and Cherisol continued to fuel dangerous drugs into our community," said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. "We will continue to marshal the full force of federal resources with the Homeland Security Task Force to attack drug trafficking at every level."

"These significant sentences send a clear message to anyone flooding our communities with dangerous drugs," said FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge Anish Shukla. "The FBI and our law enforcement partners at every level are committed to dismantling criminal drug networks from top to bottom and bringing those responsible to justice. Together, we are working to make our neighborhoods safer places for everyone."

"This investigation exposed a complex and multi-faceted drug trafficking organization that operated with no regard for the devastating impact its drugs had on our communities," said Michael J. Connolly, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. "The fact that one of the defendants continued to direct this operation from inside a corrections facility demonstrates the lengths these traffickers will go to continue their criminal enterprise. Through the dedication and collaboration of our Homeland Security Task Force partners and our local law enforcement partners, we dismantled this organization and held its members accountable. These sentences are an important step toward protecting our communities from dangerous drugs."

United States District Judge Sherri A. Lydon presided over the case and sentenced each of the defendants. A final codefendant, Donat Telcy, has not yet been sentenced. There is no parole in the federal system.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, and the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lamar J. Fyall and Mike O'Mara are prosecuting the case.

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