A 54-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of trafficking cocaine and other narcotics in Sumter County.
Judge Mary P. Hatcher sentenced Clyde Edward Johnson Jr. to two concurrent life terms as a habitual violent felony offender, according to the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
A jury found Johnson guilty in April of trafficking cocaine, trafficking in cathinones, possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon, maintaining a place for the trafficking, sale or manufacture of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The case began Feb. 15, 2023, when detectives with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a property along Northeast 12th Drive in Oxford.
Prosecutors said investigators had received information about drug sales at the property and conducted surveillance before obtaining the warrant.
Detectives stopped Johnson while other members of the agency’s Special Investigations Squad prepared to search the property. Investigators said a keychain in Johnson’s possession contained keys to a fifth-wheel camper and shed included in the search warrant.
Inside the camper, detectives found numerous bags and boxes containing narcotics that appeared to have been packaged for sale, prosecutors said. Investigators also recovered a loaded Ruger firearm and additional 9 mm ammunition.
A criminal history check showed that Johnson was a convicted felon and registered sex offender, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
“We have seen countless times how drugs destroy lives and devastate our communities,” Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie said. “With two life sentences, he will no longer be able to profit from this illicit drug enterprise.”
Assistant state attorneys Elizabeth Hart and Reagan Chapman prosecuted the case.
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