Jabyron Richardson. Provided.
GEORGETOWN — A Georgetown County jury convicted an Andrews man Aug. 24 of drug trafficking and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Jabyron Tywoine Richardson, 42, of Andrews, was convicted of third or subsequent offense trafficking in cocaine 10-28 grams; third or subsequent offense trafficking in cocaine base or crack cocaine 10-28 grams; third or subsequent offense possession with intent to distribute oxycodone; and third or subsequent offense possession with intent to distribute schedule I, II, or III controlled substance, suboxone, said Elizabeth “Liz” Smith, the assistant solicitor who along with Jasmin Waites, an assistant solicitor, prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Richardson was found not guilty of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime during the trial, which began Aug. 22. Circuit Court Judge Alison R. Lee presided over the trial and sentenced Richardson to 25 years on each of the trafficking charges and 20 years on each of the possession with intent to distribute charges. The sentences will run concurrently, according to a news release from the solicitor's office.
The trafficking charges are violent, serious, no-parole offenses, so Richardson must serve 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for supervised release. The third or subsequent offense trafficking charges have a sentencing range of 25 to 30 years due to the statutory enhanced penalties for repeat drug offenses.
This was the fourth conviction for Richardson for drug distribution or PWID charges and the fifth time he received a prison sentence. He had prior drug convictions from 1999, 2007, and 2015 and violated probation in 2011. He pleaded guilty in 1999 to distribution of crack cocaine and received a Youthful Offender Sentence, in 2007 he pleaded guilty to PWID cocaine and possession of oxycodone and received a five year sentence suspended to the service of two and half years followed by three years of probation.
Richardson violated his probation in 2011 and was sentenced to serve the remainder of the five-year sentence, and in 2015 he pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine base and PWID cocaine base and received a seven-year prison sentence.
The recent conviction stemmed from Dec. 9, 2019, when officers with the 15th Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit went to the Richardson’s home in Andrews to arrest him on a pending warrant. The DEU agents were assisted by officers with the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgetown Police Department in a multi-agency collaboration to execute the outstanding arrest warrants in Georgetown County.
During the execution of the arrest warrant, Richardson had in his possession multiple drugs, including trafficking weight of cocaine and cocaine base (crack cocaine). There was evidence of manufacturing or “cooking” crack cocaine. He also had multiple oxycodone pills and suboxone sublingual strips without a prescription. Officers confiscated a ledger containing information regarding his drug sales and his cell phone which contained text messages arranging drug deals. A stolen handgun was also recovered.
“Multiple law enforcement agencies working together led to the arrest and successful prosecution of this repeat offender drug dealer,” Smith said following the trial.
