Greenwood, S.C.; May 19, 2022 – A Greenwood man will spend the next two decades behind bars after he pleaded guilty Monday to several drug distribution-related charges, 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Thursday.
Fitzgerald Antonio McDuffie, 45, also know as “Yo-Yo,” pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of trafficking methamphetamine, 28 grams or more, distribution of methamphetamine, second offense, and distribution of methamphetamine, third offense. There were several lesser fentanyl-related distribution charges that were resolved as part of the plea. The State of South Carolina has yet to pass a fentanyl trafficking bill so, despite McDuffie’s significant fentanyl “blue pill” activity, the methamphetamine trafficking charges charges carried more prison time and were the lead charges for conviction. The State intended to try McDuffie before a jury during the June session of General Sessions Court, and had previously served notice that it intended to seek a life-without-parole sentence based on McDuffie’s previous criminal history.
Circuit Judge Frank Addy Jr. followed the negotiations and sentenced McDuffie to a combined 20 years in prison. The crimes are considered serious and violent under state law and McDuffie must serve a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence before being considered for parole.
McDuffie has a lengthy criminal history, including several arrests for a dozen different incidents in 2020, all for drug-related offenses. Over the course of 2020, McDuffie was found and arrested in possession of a host of different drugs including, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and marijuana. The arrests culminated in December 2020 when the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and the Greenwood Police Department Crime Suppression Unit joined Greenwood County SWAT in executing a search warrant at McDuffie’s Greenwood residence. During the search, officers found more than 300 grams of methamphetamine and more than 700 fentanyl “blue pills.”
Deputy Solicitor Yates Brown prosecuted the case for the Solicitor’s Office with assistance from 8th Circuit Investigator Blake Moore.
Solicitor Stumbo praised the work of his staff along with multiple narcotics investigators from the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office and Greenwood Police Department in securing the conviction and lengthy prison sentence.
“McDuffie has spent his adult life poisoning the streets of this community with substances that we know are killing people across our country every single day,” Solicitor Stumbo said following the proceeding. “My office will continue to fight alongside our partners in law enforcement to rid our streets of career drug dealers like Yo-Yo McDuffie.”