Attorney General Alan Wilson announces “Triple Crown” State Grand Jury investigation update: Top target pleads guilty and is sentenced to 25 years

(COLUMBIA, SC) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that Jonathan Wesley Cole, aka “Buckshot,” pleaded guilty in the “Triple Crown” investigation on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. 

Cole pleaded guilty to charges in Kershaw, Sumter, and Richland counties including:  Trafficking Cocaine, 400 Grams or More (Conspiracy); Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl; Trafficking Marijuana, 10 Pounds or More, But Less Than 100 Pounds; Trafficking Cocaine, 400 Grams or More; Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl; Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, Money Laundering; and Trafficking Marijuana, 10 Pounds or More, But Less Than 100 Pounds. 

Cole was a top target of the investigation who was supplying other high-level targets with large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana. Law enforcement learned that Cole would fly to California to obtain drugs and traffic them back to South Carolina in his luggage on commercial flights. On April 30, 2022, law enforcement detained one of Cole’s co-conspirators who had just flown back from California. He had approximately 12 pounds of marijuana in his suitcase and was directed by Cole to take the marijuana to another co-conspirator.

On June 2, 2022, law enforcement executed a series of search warrants at properties owned or associated with Cole. At Cole’s residence, two vacuum-sealed bags were found buried in the wood line. The bags contained approximately 635 grams of cocaine and 1,437 grams of fentanyl. Only 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be considered a lethal dose, meaning a kilogram of fentanyl could potentially be enough to kill 500,000 people.  Law enforcement also located $27,384 in cash, an assault rifle, body armor-piercing ammunition, and approximately 16 pounds of marijuana. Cole was using an empty barber shop as a front to launder his drug proceeds. 

Judge Paul Burch sentenced Cole to 25 years in prison.      

Charges from the Triple Crown investigation are still pending and involve over 50 co-conspirators who are alleged to have been trafficking cocaine, cocaine base, methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, and fentanyl in Kershaw, Lee, Marlboro, Dillon, Sumter, and Richland Counties. A trial term is scheduled for the week of March 24 in Kershaw County. 

The case was investigated by the South Carolina State Grand Jury and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Savanna Goude. The State Grand Jury was assisted in this case by a partnership of the Attorney General’s State Grand Jury Division, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter County Sheriff's Office, Richland County Sheriff's Office, Camden Police Department, Florence County Sheriff's Office, Dillon County Sheriff’s Office, Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina Highway Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, DEA, and FBI.

Attorney General Wilson stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.