CHESTER, S.C. — A South Carolina State Grand Jury has indicted Chester County Supervisor Kenneth Shane Stuart for distributing and trafficking meth while on the job.
“A significant portion of the drug addicts, the meth addicts in Chester County were being supplied by this particular conspiracy," Sheriff Max Dorsey said Friday.
Dorsey said his narcotics investigators were working several cases in the county when they realized Stuart may be involved.
"It was the sheriff that made a phone call to my office and said, we believe this may be occurring, " South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said.
“[The allegations are] that supervisor Stuart was using his county vehicle, his county time, his county resources in order to further the methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in which he was involved,” said chief prosecutor Creighton Waters.
Stuart was allegedly using county trucks as a disguise
"It was the belief of those in the conspiracy that the county truck was perfect to transport meth because it was unlikely to get pulled over," Waters said.
Waters says the conspiracy charge has to do with theft.
"That involves a scheme to cut catalytic converters out of county vehicles and sell those for money,” Waters said.
And Stuart was not the only county official caught in the meth investigation. Former Chester County animal control officer Ace Hembree was charged alongside Stuart in a new arrest warrant just issued Thursday.
“[They were] involved in a conspiracy to deliver more than 400 grams of meth, to traffic more than 400 grams of meth to the citizens of Chester county, and surrounding areas,” Waters said.
“Trafficking in over 400 grams is as big a trafficking case as you can have,” Wilson said.
Sheriff Dorsey said meth is the biggest illicit schedule 2 drug problem for the county, and disappointed that it was allegedly coming from a public official.