Jury takes 8 minutes to convict SC man for ‘pushing his poison,’ prosecutor says
A Midlands man was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after a jury needed only 8 minutes to find him guilty of a drug crime, a South Carolina prosecutor said.
Kendrick Tremain Blackwell was convicted Thursday of trafficking methamphetamines, 28 to 100 grams, the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said in a news release. The 8th Circuit includes Newberry, Greenwood, Laurens and Abbeville counties.
The 30-year-old Newberry resident was sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to the release. The maximum punishment for the felony charge is a 30-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine, according to South Carolina law.
“Kendrick Blackwell has spent the past few years pushing his poison on the streets of our communities,” Solicitor David Stumbo said in the release. “We are glad to see that he will be spending the next few years in prison as the result of his drug dealing.”
Blackwell was charged with four drug crimes when he was arrested at his Palm Lane home on Jan. 20, Newberry County court records show. Two were not prosecuted, while a drug charge for trafficking in ice, crank or crack, 28 to 100 grams, is still pending, according to court records.
He was arrested after Newberry County sheriff’s deputies went to serve warrants on Blackwell for failure to appear for prior court dates, the solicitor’s office said. He was arrested in 2020 on eight drug charges and a weapons crime, court records show.
Once they arrived, deputies smelled a strong odor of marijuana and also observed a marijuana grinder on a table inside the residence, according to the release. Deputies obtained a search warrant for the home and located more than 28 grams of meth, in addition to scales and plastic baggies, the solicitor’s office said.
Taylor Daniel and Margaret Boykin handled the case for the solicitor’s office, with help from 8th Circuit Investigator Walter Bentley. Blackwell was represented by Michael Laubshire of the Richland County Bar.
This is not Blackwell’s first conviction on drug charges. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to two drug crimes, court records show.
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