SC Attorney General warns of growing threat of organized crime behind bars

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson held a press conference with law enforcement on Tuesday about an escalating public safety crisis: organized crime being run from within state prisons, all with the help of contraband cellphones.

The warning follows a very rare release of grand jury reports from both the 34th and 35th state grand juries, outlining how inmates are continuing their criminal activity from behind bars.

“Locking someone up doesn’t make us safer if they’re still running criminal empires from behind bars. Inmates with contraband cellphones aren’t just continuing their crimes, they’re escalating them,” said Wilson.

The AG is now asking for a call to action from congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to give states the same authority that federal prisons already have, which is the ability to jam illegal cellphone signals in correctional facilities.

“Gang leaders continue to run their criminal organizations once sentenced to prison,” the reports state. “Inmate organizations extend their reach into the community, committing complex crimes throughout South Carolina, the United States, and the world.”

The grand jury’s findings come on the heels of a major narcotics case in Pickens County, where two inmates, brothers Darrell “DJ” McCoy and Matthew “Matt” McCoy, were sentenced to life without parole after being convicted of operating a meth trafficking ring while behind bars.

Using contraband phones, the McCoys coordinated the distribution of over 600 kilograms of methamphetamine across several Upstate counties including Pickens, Greenville, Laurens, Anderson, Oconee, and Abbeville. Prosecutors said the brothers directed drug couriers to travel to Atlanta weekly to pick up as much as 30 kilos of cartel-sourced meth for sale in South Carolina.

They were convicted in the “Las Señoritas” state grand jury case, alongside co-defendant Randall “RJ” Posey, who was sentenced to 25 years.

In addition to the McCoy case, Wilson’s office shared in the press conference other disturbing examples of organized crime tied to inmates using contraband phones:

The Clean Sweep Case involved Abbygale El-Dier, who pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and other related charges. Authorities said she conspired with Lee Correctional inmate Jacob Lance, who allegedly used contraband phones to exploit a child. Lance is awaiting trial and may face life without parole.

Another case is the Paper Route Case. Inmate Wayne A. Hollinshead has been indicted for trafficking over 100 pounds of marijuana and laundering more than $100,000. Investigators seized nearly $1 million in assets all allegedly connected to schemes Hollinshead directed from inside prison walls.

“Jamming the cell phone communication of state inmates would immediately eliminate so much of the criminal activity within our prisons,” the report said.