The U.S. Attorney’s office announced the arrest of Marcus Kitchens, Spartanburg County’s Clerk of Court and Terry Glenn Lanford, a Spartanburg real estate developer, for conspiring to steal and sell drugs (cocaine and methamphetamine) from an evidence room at the Spartanburg County Courthouse.
Kitchens and Lanford have been officially charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Methamphetamine.
The Federal complaint alleges that Kitchens took narcotics directly from an evidence vault located in the Spartanburg County Courthouse and gave them to Terry Glenn Lanford, a Spartanburg businessman to resell to a drug dealer located in Florida.
Mr. Lanford purportedly sold the drugs to a confidential DEA informant posing as a drug dealer in Florida last August. The complaint further alleges that Mr. Lanford and Mr. Kitchens discussed obtaining more narcotics for additional drug deals with the Florida informant.
Mr. Lanford, who frequently travels to Florida on business, allegedly stated that Kitchens liked to distribute the narcotics in Florida because it helped him separate the narcotics from Spartanburg County.
Kitchens and Lanford were arrested yesterday morning after a meeting monitored by law enforcement. During the meeting, Mr. Lanford provided Mr. Kitchens with $3,000.00, partial payment for a prior drug deal which allegedly occurred last August.
Both men could face fines as large as two million dollars and 20 years in prison.
Solicitor Trey Gowdy says that they have no idea how much evidence may have been taken or how many cases may be impacted by this crime.
Mr. Kitchens and Mr. Lanford have been released on a $25,000.00 bond.
The criminal defense attorneys at the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. include a former United States Attorney, a former public defender, a former Assistant Attorney General and Richland County Assistant Solicitor, as well as a tax lawyer familiar with IRS criminal investigations. The Strom Law Firm aggressively defends individuals on all criminal charges in all State and Federal Courts in South Carolina as well as the Federal Courts in Georgia. Our lawyers proudly edit the Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board as well as the Strom Law Blog as a pro bono effort to provide the public valuable information. Our lawyers are licensed in: South Carolina, New York, and Georgia.
