Greenwood, S.C.; November 1, 2023 – A Greenwood man was sentenced to 16 years in prison on a drug trafficking charge after electing to plead guilty Tuesday just before his trial was set to start, 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Wednesday.
Detavius Lamon Cunningham, 37, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to a charge of trafficking crack cocaine, 28 to 100 grams. Cunningham elected to change his plea to guilty just before a jury was to be selected for his trial Tuesday afternoon.
Circuit Judge R. Frank Addy Jr. then sentenced Cunningham to 16 years in prison.
In September 2022, officers with Greenwood Police Department responded to numerous 911 calls of shots fired on Chesterfield Court. While canvassing the area, they spotted Cunningham, who matched a description of the alleged shooter. Cunningham took off running when officers located a gun in his vehicle. He was apprehended after a brief foot chase. A further search of the vehicle revealed a plastic bag containing about 40 grams of crack cocaine.
Senior Assistant Solicitor Andrew Hodges and Deputy Solicitor Micah Black handled the case for the state. Cunningham was represented by Tristan Shaffer and Colie Stancil of the 8th Circuit Public Defender’s Office.
Solicitor Stumbo praised the work of his staff along with the Greenwood Police Department in securing the conviction and prison sentence.
“We have seen the destructiveness of crack cocaine on our people for more than four decades now, and it continues to plague our communities,” Solicitor Stumbo said after the sentencing. “I am pleased that another pusher who has profited off of all that misery is behind bars tonight. We will continue to go in shoulder-to-shoulder with our narcotics investigators to battle the scourge of drugs in our neighborhoods.”