Greenwood, S.C.: February 16, 2024 – A Greenwood man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to selling nearly 500 fentanyl “blue pills” to an undercover informant, 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Friday.
Travis Dwone Bryant, 37, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of trafficking heroin. Circuit Frank R. Addy Jr. then sentenced Bryant to 20 years in prison. Jury selection for Bryant’s trial was set to begin this week at the Greenwood County Courthouse when Bryant elected to change his plea from not guilty to guilty. Bryant has multiple prior criminal convictions dating back more than a decade.
In January 2022, agents with Greenwood County Drug Enforcement Unit set up a controlled buy between a confidential informant and Bryant. The informant met with Bryant, who sold the informant approximately 488 “blue pills” that later tested positive for a mix of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. DEU agents maintained surveillance of Bryant during the entire transaction.
Deputy Solicitor Yates Brown prepared the case for trial for the the State, with assistance from 8th Circuit Investigator Blake Moore. Bryant was represented by defense attorney Juankell Shingles.
Solicitor Stumbo praised the work of his team working alongside the Greenwood Drug Enforcement Unit made up of narcotics investigators from the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office and the Greenwood Police Department in securing the conviction and lengthy prison sentence.
“These deadly homemade fentanyl pills continue to destroy lives and ravish our communities, so we are glad to send another ‘blue pill’ pusher to prison where he belongs,” Solicitor Stumbo said. “While we will keep fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with our narcotics units across South Carolina to combat this problem, I would again call on our nation’s leaders in Washington, D.C. to do their jobs and shut off the massive flow of fentanyl coming into our country from the southern border.”