Charleston lawyer jeopardized lives and prosecution of drug cases, SC’s US attorney alleges

South Carolina’s U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs has asked a federal judge to reprimand a Charleston attorney who she says wrongfully allowed confidential law enforcement material to fall into the hands of suspected criminals.

That disclosure by Charleston lawyer David Aylor or his legal staff may have endangered the lives of a federal prosecutor and witnesses and a confidential law enforcement informant, said Boroughs’ motion, filed Sept. 19 in U.S. District Court.

The threat to the federal prosecutor was considered so serious that they were placed under protective supervision by U.S. Deputy Marshals, the motion said.

“Aylor and David Aylor Law Offices have committed sanctionable conduct by violating the Court’s Standing Order of Discovery. As a result, ongoing investigations have been compromised, witnesses have been intimidated, and threats of violence may have been made toward the United States,” Boroughs’ motion said.

Aylor, the lead lawyer in his Charleston law firm, has withdrawn from the case and is no longer representing the drug defendant with whom he or someone in his office allegedly shared confidential material with, according to the motion.

Aylor declined comment when reached by The State newspaper.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in South Carolina also declined comment.

All material regarding Aylor and Boroughs’ allegations are now under seal and no longer able to be viewed by the public. The State newspaper obtained a copy of the Sept. 19 motion before it was put under seal.

Under court rules, defendants are allowed to view sensitive prosecution material that is evidence against them — such as grand jury transcripts — but they are not allowed to share that material with others.

The case involving Aylor’s former client, LaJustin ”Smurf” Williams, 39, originated Feb. 22 when he and 11 others were indicted as being part of a conspiracy to traffic in quantities of illegal drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.

Williams was brought to the Charleston County jail two days after the indictment. He is being held without bond on unspecified federal charges, according to jail records.

While Williams was in jail, Aylor or members of his law firm brought restricted material into the jail and left it with Williams in a pod enclosure shared with numerous other inmates, Boroughs’ filing said.

That sharing within the jail compromised an ongoing Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as a separate FBI investigation, Boroughs’ filing alleged.

In an Aug. 16 hearing, Aylor admitted he or members of his law firm had left the material with Williams, but he didn’t think it would be shared, according to Boroughs’ filing, which quoted sections of a transcript of that hearing.

Aylor told federal Judge Bruce Hendricks of Charleston that he intended for that material to stay in a secured setting, according to the transcript.

“I take full responsibility for any violations that occurred within my office, no matter who participated in it,” Aylor told the judge, the transcript said.

The judge ordered Aylor to withdraw from the case, and he did so, according to Boroughs’ motion.

“The dissemination of these restricted materials at the jail is highly concerning ... because it puts people’s lives in danger, both cooperators and their families,” Hendricks is quoted in the transcript.

Later in August, Boroughs’ motion said the U.S. Marshals Service was notified of a potential threat toward an assistant U.S. attorney that was linked to the discovery at the jail.

“The Government investigated the veracity of the threat and placed the Assistant United States Attorney under U.S. Marshals Service protection,” Boroughs’ motion said.