GEORGETOWN, SC – On Tuesday, Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announced five people pleaded guilty to heroin charges from an incident that occurred in August of 2015 in Murrells Inlet.
Richard D. Todd Jr., the Senior Assistant Solicitor who prosecuted the case for the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said the guilty pleas occurred on Jan. 27, 2017, and Feb. 7, 2017.
A press release from the solicitors office says the following defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced by Judge Steven H. John:
- Jesus Albert Rodriquez, 31, who is an illegal alien, pleaded guilty in Janruary to first-offense trafficking in heroin, four to 14 grams, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison;
- Hector Omar Blanco Nieblas, 37, who is an illegal alien, pleaded guilty in January to first-offense trafficking in heroin, four to 14 grams, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison;
- Matthew Negri, 43, of Murrells Inlet, pleaded guilty Feb. 7, 2017, to first-offense trafficking in heroin, four to 14 grams, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison;
- Amanda Shirback, 26 of Myrtle Beach, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of heroin, and was sentenced to four days time served;
- Enrique Robles Gallegos, 27, who is an illegal alien, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession with intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Because trafficking in heroin, four to 14 grams, is considered a violent and serious offense under South Carolina law, Negri, Nieblas, and Rodriquez must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for parole.
According to the solicitor’s office, police officers went to a home on Jordan Landing Road on August 14, 2015, after neighbors complained about suspicious and unusual activity and found that Negri, who owned the home, was renting rooms and the storage building to Rodriquez, Nieblas, and Gallegos.
Over the course of the investigation, an officer saw Negri drop something and discovered that he had dropped 10 balloons that contained black tar heroin. After a search of the property, a large amount of black tar heroin and powder heroin was found in a storage building next to the residence. Officers also found heroin in Shirback’s vehicle.