Attorney General Alan Wilson announces twenty-four additional guilty pleas in the Prison Empire investigation

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that twenty-four more defendants in the Prison Empire investigation pleaded guilty to State Grand Jury charges in connection to a drug trafficking organization that operated from September 2013 to May 2021. This drug trafficking organization largely operated out of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), where incarcerated inmates were able to operate utilizing contraband cellular phones from within SCDC to coordinate drug trafficking with co-conspirators in the Upstate (primarily Greenville, Pickens, and Anderson Counties). 

“A prison cell is no place for a cell phone. Period,” said Attorney General Alan Wilson. “Contraband cell phones pose a real threat and allow inmates to not only continue a life of criminality from behind prison walls but facilitate it outside the prison. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners and the men and women who worked so hard to bring justice in this case.” 

This is the largest case in State Grand Jury history with over 90 defendants and hundreds of charges. The following are the results of the guilty pleas:

Pleaded on August 10, 2023

Edward Gary Akridge (a/k/a “Eddie Boss”, “G9”) pleaded guilty to Burglary, First Degree; Kidnapping, Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, and Trafficking Methamphetamine, 400 Grams or More (Conspiracy). He was sentenced to 25 years.  

Charles Rickey Stephens, Jr. pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy), Trafficking Heroin, 4-14 Grams, Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams, five counts of Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, two counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams, Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin, and Trafficking Heroin, 4-14 Grams (Conspiracy). He was sentenced to 20 years.    

Musa Ismail Glenn pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy), Failure to Stop for a Blue Light, Obstruction of Justice, two counts of Trafficking Heroin, 4-14 Grams, two counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams, Trafficking Morphine, 4-14 Grams, and Trafficking Heroin, 4-14 Grams (Conspiracy).  He was sentenced to 18 years.    

Dustin Allen Wilson pleaded guilty to Trafficking Meth, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy), four counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams, and Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime. He was sentenced to 15 years. 

Scott Damien Pope pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy) and Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams. He was sentenced to 15 years.  

Robert Wayne Mahon pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy), Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams, Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin, Failure to Stop for a Blue Light, and Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Person Convicted of a Violent Offense. He was sentenced to 10 years. 

Zachary Andrew Chandler pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams and Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime. He was sentenced to 10 years. 

Joseph Matthew McClure pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy) and three counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams. He was sentenced to 9 years.   

Antonio Marcus Smith pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams. He was sentenced to 9 years. 

Alicia Brooke Stephens pleaded guilty to Trafficking Heroin, 4-14 Grams, Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams, Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams, Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin, and two counts of Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime. She was sentenced to 9 years.  

Travis Dale Ashby pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams (Conspiracy). He was sentenced to 5 years. 

Jacob Austin Collins pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams and Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime. He was sentenced to 10 years suspended to 5 years followed by probation. 

Alicia Marie Sullivan pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams (Conspiracy), Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin, and Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams. She was sentenced to 5 years. 

Brandi Nicole O’Bryant (a/k/a “Brandi Smith”) pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams. She was sentenced to 45 months. 

Christopher Robert Nix pleaded to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams (Conspiracy) and Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams. He was sentenced to 10 years suspended to 3 years followed by five years of probation. 

Vadrea Michelle Swope pleaded to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams. She was sentenced to 40 months. 

Jodie Crenshaw Turner pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. She was sentenced to 427 days. 

William Clinton Barkley pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana. He was sentenced to five years suspended to five years of probation. 

Joey Durant Atkins pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. He was sentenced to 7 days. 

Pleaded on August 11, 2023

Justin Kvalheim Babb pleaded to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams (Conspiracy), two counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine, 28-100 Grams, and Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime. He was sentenced to 25 years suspended to 8 years followed by probation for 5 years.  

Samantha Renee Hall aka Samantha Brown pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams, Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, and Intimidation of a Witness. She was sentenced to 8 years. 

Amy Miranda Chastain pleaded to Distribution of Methamphetamine (Conspiracy). She was sentenced to 7 years suspended to 15 months on the Home Incarceration Program followed by 5 years of probation. 

Gary Hastings Akridge (a/k/a “Butch”) pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams (Conspiracy).  He was sentenced to 10 years suspended to 45 months followed by five years of probation. 

Bradley Justin Davis pleaded guilty to Trafficking Methamphetamine, 10-28 Grams (Conspiracy). He was sentenced to 45 months. 

The case was investigated by the South Carolina State Grand Jury, which was assisted in this case by a partnership of the Attorney General’s State Grand Jury Division, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the South Carolina Department of Corrections’ Division of Police Services, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, the Easley Police Department, the Liberty Police Department, the Pickens Police Department, and the South Carolina Governor’s Counterdrug Task Force (a unit of the South Carolina National Guard). The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Savanna Goude.

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