Man Selling Fentanyl-Laced Drugs Pleads Guilty in Federal Court

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Jeffery Jermaine Joe, age 42, of Camden, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine. Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson accepted Joe’s guilty plea and will sentence him after receiving and reviewing a presentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.

According to facts summarized by the Government at Joe’s guilty plea hearing, Joe was caught in a traffic stop with the illicit drugs and was subsequently captured on video selling pills laced with fentanyl. Joe was also charged for possession of a firearm that was discovered in the same room where he sold the fentanyl-laced pills. Federal law prohibits Joe from possessing a firearm based on prior convictions for distribution of crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine 2^nd; trafficking crack cocaine 2^nd; distribution crack cocaine; and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is South Carolina’s implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Alyssa Leigh Richardson of the Columbia office.

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