Final Defendant in Large York County Drug Conspiracy Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Jarman Lamar White, 39, of Rock Hill, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 400 grams of fentanyl and a quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that White was responsible for selling drugs that were obtained from members of the Darryl Hemphill drug organization. Agents learned that drugs obtained by this group included pills that resembled Roxicodone 30 mg tablets, also known in the generic form as a oxycodone. The counterfeit pills were produced by members of the organization. The pills were clandestinely manufactured with fentanyl at various locations in the Rock Hill and Charlotte area.

During the investigation, multiple phone calls were intercepted between White and other members of the organization in which it was learned that White was acquiring cocaine and methamphetamine, in addition to fentanyl, from other members. Agents also learned that White allowed the organization to use the basement of his girlfriend's home in Rock Hill to set up multiple pill-press machines used to manufacture the fentanyl-laced pills. White and others were surveilled and observed moving the pill-press machines into the basement of the residence. White allowed multiple members of the Hemphill organization to utilize this residence to store and later operate multiple pill-press machines to clandestinely manufacture these fentanyl-laced pills. On one occasion, White and members of the organization made approximately 50,000 fentanyl-laced pills in the basement of the residence during a single day. White was paid a quantity of fentanyl-laced pills and several thousand dollars in return for using his residence.

At the time of White's arrest in June 2018, agents conducted a search at this residence and located multiple pill-press machines, pill binder, masks/respirators, an industrial mixing machine, and a 9mm pistol which was in a backpack belonging to White.

In addition, after the arrest of the other members of the organization, agents of the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit completed three separate controlled purchase of fentanyl pills from White. Through these controlled purchases, agents learned White had continued to conspire with others to distribute fentanyl-laced pills after his initial arrest.

United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced White to 180 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a 10-year term of court-ordered supervision. 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. HSTF comprises agents and officers with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina.

This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon prosecuted the case.

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