Rock Hill man gets 40 years for fentanyl trafficking under new SC law
A Rock Hill man prosecutors said was caught with fentanyl and other drugs has received what is believed to be the longest York County prison sentence under recent South Carolina fentanyl trafficking laws after a jury found him guilty.
Visiting Judge Keith Kelly sentenced Londell Lashun Alston, 39, to 40 years on Thursday in York County criminal court for trafficking fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine following a three-day trial, according to prosecutors and court records.
Rock Hill police stopped a car Alston was driving in 2023, 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Marina Hamilton said. After a search, police found over 2,000 fentanyl pills weighing 325 grams, according to Hamilton. Officers also seized over three pounds of heroin —1,428 grams — and 425 grams of meth, she said.
Politicians, law enforcement and prosecutors in both Carolinas over the past few years have said fentanyl is dangerous because it is cheap, deadly and easily obtained on the street. It is a synthetic opioid stronger than heroin.
“People’s lives are being destroyed by fentanyl,” Hamilton said after the verdict. “It’s an epidemic and we are doing all we can to stop it.”
Under the state trafficking law that passed in 2023 with bipartisan support, the amount of fentanyl found in this case carries a mandatory 25 to 40 years in prison for a conviction. The heroin conviction also carried a mandatory 25 to 40 years and the meth charge carries a minimum of 25 years.
York County prosecutors have secured convictions in more than 30 fentanyl trafficking cases since the new law started, officials said.
Alston pleaded not guilty after his 2023 arrest on drug and weapon charges and exercised his right to a jury trial. The jury found Alston not guilty of two weapon charges stemming from the same incident, court records show.
Alston plans to appeal the guilty verdicts and sentencing, said his lawyer, Matthew Niemiec.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Rock Hill man gets 40 years for fentanyl trafficking under new SC law."
