Rock Hill, South Carolina – The final chapter in a major federal drug investigation centered in York County has ended with a lengthy prison sentence for one of the conspiracy’s key participants. Jarman Lamar White, 39, of Rock Hill, has been ordered to spend 15 years in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute large quantities of fentanyl, along with cocaine and methamphetamine.
Federal investigators say White played a significant role in a drug network tied to the Darryl Hemphill organization. According to evidence gathered during the investigation, White distributed narcotics supplied by members of the group, which was responsible for producing counterfeit pills designed to resemble 30-milligram Roxicodone tablets. While the pills appeared legitimate, authorities determined they were actually manufactured with fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.
Investigators discovered that these counterfeit pills were being secretly produced at various locations across the Rock Hill and Charlotte areas. Surveillance and intercepted phone calls revealed that White remained in frequent contact with other members of the organization, arranging to obtain fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine for distribution.
The investigation also uncovered that White allowed members of the drug network to use the basement of his girlfriend’s Rock Hill residence as a base of operations. Agents observed individuals moving pill-press machines into the basement, where the equipment was later used to manufacture fentanyl-laced pills. On one occasion, authorities determined that roughly 50,000 pills were produced in the basement during a single day. In exchange for allowing the operation to run from the home, White was paid with fentanyl-laced pills and several thousand dollars.
When White was arrested in June 2018, law enforcement agents searched the residence and recovered pill-press machines, pill binder, respirators and masks, an industrial mixing machine, and a 9mm pistol found inside a backpack belonging to him.
Even after other members of the organization had been taken into custody, investigators said White continued to participate in the distribution of fentanyl pills. Agents with the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit later conducted three controlled purchases of fentanyl pills from him, confirming he was still involved in the conspiracy.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced White to 180 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of court-ordered supervision after his release. Federal sentences do not include the possibility of parole.
The case was investigated by multiple federal and local agencies, including the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon prosecuted the case.
