Richard Brian Walker, Methamphetamine Trafficking, South Carolina 2023

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Upstate Meth Trafficking Ring Busted: Final Defendant Pleads Guilty

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A major blow was dealt to the Upstate’s methamphetamine trade with the sentencing of three defendants and the guilty plea of a fourth in a federal meth trafficking case.

Richard Brian Walker, 49, of Chesnee, was sentenced to 270 months’ imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy. In addition to the trafficking charge, Walker also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a short-barreled rifle, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Whitesides was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. She also pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Amanda Gail Tuck, 45, of Chesnee, was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment.

The final defendant, Jeffrey Michael Wilson, 54, of Commerce, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Wilson was previously convicted in a federal methamphetamine conspiracy case in 2000.

According to evidence presented to the court, on January 18, 2023, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies pulled over Whitesides on I-85 and searched her car, finding almost two kilograms of methamphetamine.

On February 22, 2023, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office was conducting surveillance on Walker’s home and observed Wilson’s car arrive and leave. Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Wilson, locating more than 5,800 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded semi-automatic pistol with 19 rounds. Over the course of the conspiracy, Wilson was responsible for trafficking 50 kilograms of methamphetamine with Walker.

United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins sentenced the defendants and accepted Wilson’s guilty plea. The court ordered each sentence to be followed by a term of supervised release. Judge Coggins will sentence Wilson at a later date. The maximum penalty for the offense is life imprisonment.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, South Carolina Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, and Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Schoen is prosecuting the case.