The US Department of Justice announced today that Benjamin Johnathan Newman, a South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) inmate, was sentenced to more than 26 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.
Newman, 38, a Lexington County resident, is currently serving a 25-year sentence for narcotics trafficking and has been in state prison since 2012.
According to evidence given in court, the SCDC recovered 16 illegal contraband telephones from Newman while he was in prison, which he used to run a large-scale drug distribution enterprise. Newman ordered the importation of significant amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, and hired drivers to pick them up in Georgia, Texas, and Florida before delivering them to stash homes in Lexington County.
Adair Ford Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, commented on the case, saying, “Some of our most prolific drug traffickers operate from a prison cell. We commend Director Stirling and the South Carolina Department of Corrections detectives for their efforts to put an end to their ongoing illegal activity.”
Newman and seven of his co-defendants were convicted in federal court. Co-defendants Chelsea Grace Wynn, 32, of Lexington, Nehemiah Jimmy Mayes, III, 29, of Lexington, and Josiah Daniel Daily, 38, of Aynor, have all received federal prison sentences.