Rock Hill Man Sentenced to Twelve Years in Federal Prison for Involvement in Fentanyl Pill Case

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr. announced today that Fate Thomas McClurkin, Jr., 30, of Rock Hill, was sentenced to twelve years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

Evidence presented in court established that, through an investigation into Darryl Hemphill and Hemphill’s drug trafficking organization, federal agents learned that McClurkin was responsible for selling drugs obtained from Hemphill, including cocaine and clandestinely made pills that contained fentanyl.  It was further known that McClurkin had a close relationship with Hemphill related to trafficking voluminous amounts of drugs in the Rock Hill and Charlotte regions.  As a co-conspirator in Hemphill’s drug trafficking organization, McClurkin was fully aware the pills purchased and sold by him were fake Roxicodone pills that were made with fentanyl. 

On May 25, 2018, agents determined that Hemphill coordinated a drug deal with McClurkin for 13,000 fentanyl pills.  Evidence in the case also showed that, after completing this transaction, McClurkin purchased 25,000 more fentanyl-based pills from Hemphill during this conspiracy.

United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced McClurkin to 144 months in federal prison, to be followed by an eight-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Assistant United States Attorneys William K. Witherspoon, T. DeWayne Pearson, and Elliot Daniels, all of the Columbia office, prosecuted the case.

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