Authorities: SC drug trafficker who bought $540 in Girl Scout cookies pleads guilty after threatening to kill prosecutor
Detric McGowan / Source: Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office
Detric McGowan / Source: Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WOLO) — A SC man who went viral in February for buying $540 of Girl Scout cookies is pleading guilty in federal court after offering his cellmate $10,000 to kill a prosecutor and a witness.
Detric McGowan, aka “Fat” 46, of Piedmont, has entered a guilty plea in federal court to participating in a drug conspiracy involving cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and tramadol; possessing a kilogram or more of heroin with the intent to distribute; conspiring to launder money; obstruction of justice/witness tampering; and obstruction of justice/retaliation.
McGowan and others were members of a drug trafficking organization operating in the Upstate of South Carolina.
The organization was responsible for the distribution of $1 million dollars’ worth of heroin, cocaine, and/or fentanyl in the Upstate and elsewhere.
Recently, McGowan began to discuss with a person who was incarcerated with him having his prosecutor and at least one witness killed. This person alerted law enforcement to the threat and an immediate investigation began.
McGowan was recorded agreeing to pay the person $10,000 to kill the prosecutor and witness and providing information about how to find the targets. He also provided a telephone number and wrote down the name of the witness.
McGowan did confess to the FBI of the plot he put in motion.
On the drug and obstruction counts, McGowan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life.
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