Man who faked death to avoid arrest sentenced

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man prosecutors say faked his own death to avoid drug charges faces more than 12 years in federal prison on conspiracy charges and causing the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct an unnecessary search.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said in a news release Monday that 61-year-old Julius “Butch” Nesbitt was also ordered to pay $170,114 in restitution to the Coast Guard for the November 2007 search.

Nesbitt was convicted in August of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. He had originally been charged in 2007 in Andrews, but prosecutors say he staged a boat accident on nearby Winyah Bay and fled to Terre Haute, Ind., where he was arrested in 2008 on counterfeiting charges. He pleaded guilty a year later and was sentenced to a year in federal prison.
   
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