26 charged in federal indictment in drug charges, illegal firearm across SC and Georgia

AIKEN, S.C. (WOLO) – The US Attorney office announced that 26 individuals, many of them associates of a violent criminal street gang, have been indicted on drug and firearms charges after a series of investigations in South Carolina and Georgia.

The investigation and arrests were announced in a joint press conference held at the Aiken Department of Public Safety by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the District of South Carolina and the Southern District of Georgia.

The investigation was initiated by the Regional Anti-Gang Enforcement (RAGE) Task Force of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

It began in 2017 as an investigation of a member of a criminal street gang who is alleged to have coordinated continued criminal activity while being held in the Aiken County Detention Center awaiting retrial for murder in a 2008 drug-related home invasion.

From 2017 to the present, ATF agents in South Carolina and Georgia identified multiple targets in the investigation, many of them linked by association with the street gang.

Nine defendants were named in three separate indictments by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia, while 17 additional defendants have been indicted in the District of South Carolina.

The 17 defendants charged in South Carolina are:

• Ronald Gartrell, a/k/a “RJ,” 33, of Aiken, South Carolina, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, multiple counts of Distribution of Crack Cocaine, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Heather Collins, 42, of Aiken, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, and multiple counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine and Crack Cocaine;
• Cornelious F. McKie, 42, of Aiken, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine;
• Reihn Dracon Jennings, a/k/a “Red,” 28, of Aiken, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, Distribution of Crack Cocaine, multiple counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Christopher Johnson, a/k/a “Crip,” 32, of Aiken, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, Distribution of Crack Cocaine, and multiple counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Quinton De’Shaun White, a/k/a “Q,” 29, of North Augusta, South Carolina, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, Distribution of Methamphetamine, and Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Kevin D. Sheppard, a/k/a “Bean O”, 35, of Jackson, South Carolina, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, multiple counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Using and Carrying a Firearm

During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;

• Benjamin Roper, 42, of Aiken, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Jerome Morris Simmons, 38, of Aiken, charged with Distribution of Cocaine, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Antonio Maurice Scrivens, a/k/a “Bucko,” 34, of Aiken, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Keith Williams, 29, of Beech Island, South Carolina, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Distribution of Methamphetamine, Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Larry Thomas, 20, of Aiken, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Distribution of Methamphetamine, Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to and In Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Charlie Edward Carter, 31, of Beech Island, charged with Distribution of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Dealing in Firearms without a License;
• Rudolph Keith Scott, 27, of Beech Island, charged with Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Ray Hampton Baughman, 48, of New Ellenton, South Carolina, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Xavier Mathaney, 26, of Aiken, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and
• Rashad Lundy, 27, of Aiken, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

The defendants indicted in Georgia are:

• George Edward Powell, 51, of Blythe, Georgia, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and multiple counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Keldrick Demonta Streetman, 36, of Augusta, Georgia, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Distribution of Cocaine, and Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Jermarce Antonio Smith, 32, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Brandon Jermal Jenkins, 29, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Carl Walker, 56, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, multiple counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine, and multiple counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Gwendolyn Johnson-Hill, 53, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• John Willie Powell, 39, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and multiple counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine;
• Ziquane Sandford, 21, of Hephzibah, Georgia, charged with Conspiracy to Engage in the Business of Dealing in Firearms Without a License, False Statements in Acquisition of Firearms, Engaging in the Business of Dealing in Firearms Without a License, Possession of an Unregistered Short-Barreled Shotgun, and False Statements Concerning Information Kept by Firearms Dealer;
• Jacquetta Yarbray, 23, of Hephzibah, charged with Conspiracy to Engage in the Business of Dealing in Firearms Without a License, False Statements in Acquisition of Firearms, and False Statements Concerning Information Kept by Firearms Dealer.