Sixteen Individuals in Colletion and Dorchester Counties Federally Indicted as Part of Drug Conspiracy

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Ivory Brothers, Kyedrick Edwards, Jonathan Edwards, Joey Maurice Charles, Tiffany Elliot, Paul Steve Braxton, Edward Bryant, Bryant Davis, Rocky Creel, Elijah Deal, Gerwron Lingard, Jerry Rivers, Charles Youmans, Martin Louis Ballard, Norman Robinson, and Yvette Renee Calvin, of Colleton and Dorchester Counties in South Carolina, were charged in a five-count indictment with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of cocaine base (commonly known as “crack”), a violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846, as well as possessing with intent to distribute and distributing crack cocaine, violations of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841. If convicted, these defendants face a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and a $4 million fine.

The case was the result of a year-long investigation involving agents of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, which consists of members from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, Charleston Police Department, the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, the North Charleston Police Department, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and the Summerville Police Department. Also involved in the investigation were members of the Walterboro Department of Public Safety. This case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Peter Phillips of the Charleston office for prosecution.

The United States Attorney stated that all charges in this indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.