Rock Hill Drug Kingpin Underwood Jailed for 10 Years

Columbia, SC — Jacquese Traveon Underwood, 40, of Rock Hill, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of fentanyl. Underwood was serving a drug trafficking sentence at the South Carolina Department of Corrections when he orchestrated this elaborate plot.

Underwood’s addiction to the drug trade continued while locked up, as he coordinated purchases and distributions of cocaine, meth, and fentanyl-based pills from Darryl Hemphill and his organization. The clandestine manufacturing of these pills in Rock Hill and Charlotte was a testament to Underwood’s influence within the drug underworld.

Hemphill, the leader of the group, supplied Underwood with drugs while he was incarcerated. Agents traced Underwood’s involvement through monitored calls and statements from co-conspirators. It was revealed that Underwood had taught Hemphill how to order and receive narcotics from Southern California, using prison associates to facilitate the drug exchange.

Agents seized over 1,000 fentanyl-based pills, over 700 grams of meth, and approximately 312 grams of cocaine linked to Underwood’s activities. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis imposed a sentence of 121 months, followed by four years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which leverages the strengths of various law enforcement agencies to target high-level drug traffickers. The FBI, ATF, DEA, York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Richland County Sheriff’s Department, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections were involved in this operation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is handling the prosecution. For more information on the OCDETF Program, visit www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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