DARLINGTON, SC (WBTW) – United States Attorney Beth Drake announced Thursday that a man from Darlington pleaded guilty in federal court this week.
According to a press release, Justin Martin Jackson, 29, of Darlington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the drug laws of the United States, using a communication device to facilitate the commission of a felony and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Judge Bruce H. Hendricks accepted the plea and will sentence Jackson after he has reviewed the investigation report from the United States Probation Office.
Evidence presented in court established that in 2005, the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI began an investigation into cocaine and cocaine-base distribution activities in the Hartsville area. As part of that investigation, in February 2015, Jackson was found in possession of a quantity of ethylone, also known as MDMA or “Molly”, during a traffic stop.
In December 2015, Jackson was arrested at a home in Darlington on a federal arrest warrant. At that home, law enforcement found three guns, over a kilogram of powder cocaine, and 54 grams of cocaine-base in the home. Officers also recovered two phones, which Jackson had used in December 2015 to transact illegal drug activity.
The press release says defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of life in prison.
The case was investigated by agents of the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the Pee Dee Violent Crimes Task Force.
