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South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson announced this week that statewide grand jurors had released a report highlighting the problem of organized crime in Palmetto prisons – mainly via the use of contraband cellphones.
In a recent trial in Pickens County, two inmates received sentences of life without parole for narcotics trafficking – highlighting the severity of the issue as well as the grand jury’s efforts to combat the continuing crime.
“Locking someone up doesn’t make us safer if they’re still running criminal empires from behind bars,” Wilson said. “Inmates with contraband cellphones aren’t just continuing their crimes, they’re escalating them.”
In an effort to de-escalate the use of these contraband cellphones, Wilson is calling on the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) jam these illegal communications and “shut these criminal networks down, for good.”
Joel E. Anderson, interim director of the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC), made it known that not only is the public in danger due to criminal activity conducted via illegal cellphones – but so are staff and inmates at these facilities.
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Amid the grand jury’s investigation into “Las Señoritas,” a Pickens County jury convicted Darrell Foster McCoy, Matthew David McCoy and Randall Gene Posey. All three were convicted for trafficking methamphetamine, 400 grams or more, on June 27, 2025.
During the trial, witnesses and evidence established that the McCoy brothers were leaders of an Upstate narcotics trafficking organization and used contraband cellphones within the SCDC to coordinate trafficking kilograms of methamphetamine in Pickens, Greenville, Laurens, Anderson, Oconee and Abbeville Counties – with Posey as a distributor.
Both McCoys had previously been convicted of trafficking methamphetamine in another state grand jury case – dubbed “Family Tradition” – and were inmates at SCDC when they trafficked methamphetamine in the “Las Señoritas” investigation.
“The McCoys were so proud of the fact that they were convicted of drug trafficking in the Family Tradition case that they got tattoos that say, ‘Family Tradition,'” said Wilson. “Well, they have a new family tradition: being in prison for life without parole.”
Posey was not an inmate in SCDC at the time of his conviction. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Three other co-defendants – distributors for the McCoy brothers – were scheduled to stand trial but entered guilty pleas.
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In addition to the drug cases, Wilson announced that Abbygale El-Dier pleaded guilty to child abuse charges against her minor daughter in the ‘Clean Sweep’ grand jury case on July 1, 2025.
El-Dier’s alleged co-conspirator, Jacob Lance, is a Lee prison inmate who is alleged to have used contraband cell phones smuggled into the prison to perpetrate the abuse of the minor victim.
He currently faces the following charges and is expected to stand trial in Greenville County later this year
- Criminal sexual conduct with a minor, first degree (seven counts)
- Sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (11 counts)
- Sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (12 counts)
- One count of criminal conspiracy
El-Dier pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a minor, first degree, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree, and one count of criminal conspiracy. She remains in custody as her sentencing was deferred until an undetermined later date.
She is facing anywhere between thirty-one years and life behind bars.
Lastly, Wilson announced that in the grand jury investigation dubbed “Paper Route,” SCDC inmate Wayne A. Hollinshead had been indicted for various offenses, including trafficking marijuana 100 pounds or more, money laundering more than $100,000, criminal conspiracy, intimidation of witnesses and obstruction of justice.
Hollinshead’s activities were allegedly directed in prison using contraband cellphones – with ill-gained assets included in balances in checking accounts, savings accounts, cash management accounts, CDs, cryptocurrency and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
South Carolina statewide grand juries have been investigating these and other cases with a connection to organized crime and corruption in the prisons, and issued a reports (here and here) recommending to the FCC and the federal government to allow state prisons to jam contraband cellphones at their facilities.
“Gang leaders continue to run their criminal organizations once sentenced to prison, and inmate leaders develop new ways to commit crime with organizations they run within the prison walls,” the report stated. “These inmate organizations extend their reach into the community, committing complex crimes throughout South Carolina, the United States, and the world.”
Wilson stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as they may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against them.
Count on FITSNews to provide our audience with pertinent updates regarding these ongoing investigations… and the ongoing push to jam cell phones in Palmetto State prisons.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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1 comment
The Criminals in Jail Can Only Do this with the Help of The Prison Guards and and Other Prison Employees!! How is it
the Prison Guards Can NOT catch the Cell Phones in the Jails??