Beaufort man sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug charges

Image: 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office

Image: 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office

BEAUFORT, SC (WOLO) – The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office says a Hilton Head Island man is headed to prison after they say was found with a large amount of heroin and cocaine inside a Paddle Boat Lane condominium.

According to officials 38 year old Antonio Ricardo Lee,  was found guilty Wednesday of Trafficking Cocaine and Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin within a half-mile of a school or playground.

Lee was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the trafficking charges. Then he received an additional eight years for the Distribution and Proximity charge. The charges are to be served concurrently.

The Solicitor’s Office says the 25 year sentence, which is the mandatory minimum sentence was based on the weight of cocaine.

Sarah Flower who prosecuted the case says,

  “This defendant ruined countless peoples’ lives by peddling large amounts of a highly addictive
and destructive drug,” 
the case. “He is going where he needs to be.”

Flower says on July 19, 2018, Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies searched the condo where Lee was living
and found approximately 300 grams of cocaine and 5 grains of heroin. Investigators also seized
drug paraphernalia, cash and ammunition.

Officials say, Lee’s is no stranger to law enforcement and has an extensive history to prove it. Accoridng to Solicitor Flower, Lee has prior criminal convictions that include a public disorderly conduct in 2000; possession of marijuana in 2006; possession of marijuana in 2012; and possession of a controlled substance in
2012.