COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – A gang member pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally entering the United States after deportation, U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said.

Leonardo DeLeon, 30, is a resident of Myrtle Beach, SC where the local police identified him as a member of the Mexican mafia street gang. After being taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fingerprints analysis threw out that DeLeon was the same man convicted in 1999 in an attempted murder case in Texas.

In 2001, the defendant was deported to his native Honduras and illegally re-entered the U.S. and established himself in Myrtle Beach.

Prosecutors indicated that DeLeon could face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – A Jackson, South Carolina man on Tuesday was sentenced to federal prison for possession of child pornography, prosecutors said.

Tory D. Spence, 29, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison after admitting to using computers to access and download child pornography from the internet. Spence will be supervised by federal probation officers for the rest of his life. Additionally, he will be required to register as a sex offender.

He received an increased sentenced under federal sentencing guidelines for having a 2003 aggravated assault and battery conviction, in which he was prosecuted for taking indecent liberties with a nine-year-old girl.

This case is the result of an investigation by agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – Three men responsible for distributing methamphetamine across the Pee Dee, South Carolina on Monday region were sentenced to federal prison, prosecutors said.

A U.S. District Judge sentenced David E. Watts, 49, to 30 years imprisonment, Flint D. Ratliff, 46, to 23 years imprisonment, and James B. Haithcock, 50, to eight years imprisonment. There is no parole in federal sentencing.

The three defendants were involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine since 2002 in various areas of North and South Carolina. Additionally, they also are responsible for teaching at least ten other people how to make methamphetamine, and were responsible for many of the meth labs later seized by law enforcement in the Pee Dee Region since 2004.

Witnesses testified that the group and their co-conspirators made approximately 20 ounces of meth each month, stealing anhydrous ammonia tanks from business and farms throughout the Pee Dee region in order to produce the drug. Co-conspirators also testified that all three defendants often carried firearms.

The conviction is the result of an investigation by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, DEA Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, and various other local and federal departments and agencies.

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GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — National Football League (NFL) player Gaines Adams was pronounced dead at a hospital in Greenwood, South Carolina following a heart attack on Sunday morning, officials said. He was 26.

Gaines Adams was a defensive end for the Chicago Bears of the NFL and was pronounced dead at the emergency room of Self Regional Memorial Hospital.

Adams’ girlfriend found Adams early Sunday at his Dublin Street home and alerted authorities. “EMS brought him to the emergency room of Self Regional Memorial Hospital and pronounced him dead at 8.21 [a.m. local time],” Greenwood County Coroner Jim Coursey said.

The coroner described Adams as being in good health before he died and had no record of any prior health conditions.

Coursey later said an autopsy had been conducted in Anderson and concluded that Adams died of cardiac arrest. “They already opened him up and looked at it,” Coursey said, saying the autopsy was completed just after 12.30 p.m. Coursey added that Adams had an enlarged heart.

The corner said the death investigation would be concluded now a cause of death has been determined.

“We are stunned and saddened by the news of Gaines’ passing,” the Chicago Bears said in a statement. “Our prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – Four guilty pleas were entered in South Carolina courts Thursday to charges stemming from separate indictments issued by a federal grand jury investigation into public corruption in Union County.

Former Union County Sheriff Wesley Howard Wells pled guilty in federal court to lying to federal investigators. Evidence presented at the hearings established that Wells made significant loans to an individual, resulting in sizable interest income to Wells. In March 2009, Wells made false statements to federal law enforcement agents from the FBI concerning his involvement in concealing his receipt of taxable interest income and the existence of documents acknowledging so. Wells faces a maximum possible sentence of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

Former Union County Tax Assessor Willie E. Randall, Jr., pled guilty to conspiracy, extortion, soliciting and accepting bribes, money laundering, structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements, and knowingly allowing the Union County Tax Assessor’s office to be used as a “stash house” for the storage and distribution of cocaine and hydrocodone. Randall faces a maximum possible sentence of 190 years imprisonment and a fine of $5.25 million dollars.

In addition, Randall also pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and a mixture of methamphetamine. Randall faces an additional maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.

Union County resident Lapriest Darnell Beacham was also named as a co-defendant in a separate indictment along with Willie E. Randall, Jr. Beacham pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and he faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1 million dollars.
Union County resident Willard Dee Farr pled guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion. Farr faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

A U.S. District Judge accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants at a later date.
The case was investigated by agents of the FBI, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – Three South Carolina individuals were charged Tuesday in a twenty-eight count Indictment that included assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns.

Nadine Pinto, 38, John Wofford, 42, and Taurik David Griffin, 32, all of Mauldin, South Carolina were charged with violating US law by creating false entries in tax returns they prepared for certain clients, so as to qualify the clients for tax refunds.

The case was investigated by agents of the IRS and was assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Watkins, Jr., of the Greenville office for prosecution.

The maximum penalty the trio could receive is a fine of $100,000 and incarceration for ten years.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – A former police officer of South Carolina pled guilty Tuesday for possession of child pornography after a lengthy investigation by the FBI.

David Courtney Childers, 45, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was subject to investigations after using peer to peer sharing software to spread child pornography. The agents made contact with Childers, who was offering to share child pornography; the agents downloaded the material and traced the communication back to the Childers’ computer at his Myrtle Beach residence.

At the time of the incident, Childers was employed as a police officer with Horry Count. A U.S. Attorney stated that the maximum penalty Childers can receive is a fine of $250,000 and incarceration for 10 years.

Peer to peer sharing software is a technology that allows both the suppliers and consumers of resources and data to share with each other. Often this is a tool used by those engaging in illegal transfers of copyrighted materials, but it does have its legitimate uses.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — A South Carolina woman has been charged with making false claims against the federal government, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Sharon Jackson Bookert, 46, of Columbia, was charged by a federal grand jury in an indictment which alleges her of falsely claiming that she had not received her federal disability checks, said U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins.

According to the indictment, Bookert falsely claimed that she had not received her federal disability checks, causing two replacement checks to be issued to her.

The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Robert C. Jendron, Jr., of the Columbia office for prosecution.

The maximum penalty, if she is found guilty, is a fine of $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.