Rock Hill Woman Jailed in Fentanyl Pill Mill Case

Rock Hill, South Carolina — Patricia Ann Hemphill, 51, is headed to federal prison after admitting her role in a sprawling fentanyl operation that pumped more than a million fake Roxicodone pills into the streets of the Southeast. Hemphill was sentenced to 36 months behind bars, followed by four years of supervised release, in connection with a drug ring that stretched from Southern California to Atlanta.

Federal investigators uncovered a well-oiled machine: defendants flew to California to source massive quantities of cocaine, meth, heroin, and fentanyl, then shipped over 255 packages back to the Rock Hill and Charlotte corridor. Once there, the drugs were repackaged and pushed through local networks. In just one year, the ring moved at least five kilograms of cocaine, 280 grams of crack, 500 grams of meth, 400 grams of fentanyl, a kilogram of heroin, and over a kilo of marijuana.

Hemphill didn’t cook the pills herself, but her home served as a distribution hub. Evidence confirmed she allowed her son, Darryl Hemphill, to use her Rock Hill residence to push fentanyl-laced counterfeits. Those pills — made to mimic legitimate oxycodone — flooded markets in Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, and Atlanta, putting users at extreme risk of overdose.

The case, led by the FBI and York County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, charged 19 individuals. Sixteen, including both Patricia and Darryl Hemphill, pleaded guilty. Three others were found guilty at trial in August 2022 and await sentencing. The prosecution was part of a larger Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation targeting high-level traffickers.

Additional agencies involved in the takedown included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Rock Hill Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, and Richland County Sheriff’s Department. No parole in the federal system means Hemphill will serve every day of her sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon handled the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis imposed the 3-year term, sending a clear message: complicity in fentanyl trafficking carries steep consequences. The OCDETF program continues to dismantle networks that profit from America’s opioid crisis.