Ex-Chester County SC supervisor pleads guilty to trafficking drugs while in office
Kenneth Shane Stuart, the former top elected official in Chester County, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after admitting he dealt drugs while in office.
Stuart, known as Shane, pleaded guilty Friday in court in Chester and was led off to jail.
Stuart, 49, pleaded guilty to trafficking meth, distribution of meth, conspiracy, and misconduct in office, testimony and court records showed. Judge Eugene Griffith sentenced Stuart on a meth distribution charge after a negotiated deal between prosecutors and Stuart’s lawyer, Ed Martin of Charlotte.
Sentencing for the other charges, which could carry 7-25 years, was deferred because Stuart is cooperating with police and prosecutors in an ongoing investigation, court officials said Friday.
Stuart made no comment in court except to admit he used and sold drugs while serving as the Chester County Supervisor.
Stuart was supervisor from 2015 until he was arrested in 2020. He was suspended from office by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster after his arrest.
Chester County’s supervisor at that time ran all county government offices, chaired the county council, and was in charge of the county budget.
Chester County is a mostly rural area of around 32,000 people between Rock Hill and Columbia.
Spiral of drug use and dealing
Prosecutors laid out facts in the case Friday, two years after Stuart was arrested and suspended.
Creighton Waters, of the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, said in court that Stuart spiraled into drug use and dealing in 2019 and 2020. Stuart used a Chester County vehicle to initially evade the detection of law enforcement, Waters said.
Stuart knew police would likely not suspect the top person in government of transporting meth, Waters said.
“We have an elected county supervisor who abused the public trust,” Waters said in court. “It’s a slap in the face to the citizens of Chester County, to use the seal of this county to conduct drug trafficking.”
Police learned of Stuart’s drug dealing, then began an undercover investigation, Waters said in court.
Stuart was caught on police video using, weighing and selling meth several times in 2020, Waters said in court. Police had video of Stuart using meth at his home and making several drug deals, Waters said.
Stuart transported meth in his county vehicle to York and Lancaster counties, Waters said. Stuart even hatched a scheme to steal catalytic converters from county vehicles, Waters said.
When Stuart was arrested at his Chester County home in September 2020, police found meth, guns, scales and a hidden meth storage area.
Stuart admitted his crimes when arrested in 2020, and agreed to help police investigate other suspects, Waters said.
Part of the negotiated deal between prosecutors and Stuart is that Stuart cooperate in the ongoing investigation into other suspects, Waters said in court. That cooperation by Stuart has led to other drug seizures and arrests, Waters said.
Those cases remain pending.
After court, Waters said corruption cases are corrosive and erode the public trust.
“It is important that we aggressively confront corruption,” Waters said.
Chester’s corruption convictions
Stuart pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Friday, the same day that former Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood was scheduled to report to federal prison.
Underwood was convicted of corruption in 2021. He is sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.
Waters said in court that the investigation that caught Stuart dealing drugs was part of an investigation that led to state grand jury charges against Underwood.
Underwood is charged in South Carolina state court with with criminal conspiracy, misconduct in office, embezzlement, forgery, and use of office for financial gain, court documents show
Those South Carolina state charges against Underwood remain pending, even with his federal convictions, Waters said.
Current Sheriff Max Dorsey, who was involved in the Stuart investigation, said after court that he hopes Chester County and its residents can heal now that Stuart and Underwood have been sentenced to prison.
“We serve the public and for that to work, they have to trust us,” Dorsey said after court. “I hope the county can move forward and we can continue to rebuild that trust.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Ex-Chester County SC supervisor pleads guilty to trafficking drugs while in office."
