They convict three South Carolina ex-policemen after the FBI operation

Columbia, South Carolina – Three ex-policemen of South Carolina they were sentenced to federal prison after an operation in which FBI agents masqueraded as members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

A federal judge in the city of Columbia sentenced Orangeburg County ex-agents Carolyn Colter-Franklin, 64, and Nathaniel Miller Shazier III, 29, as well as Springfield police officer Allan Hunter, 52. years, on charges of criminal association for committing fraud, the federal prosecutor’s office for the South Carolina district announced Monday.

The three are the latest of six Orangeburg County ex-agents to be sentenced in the covert operation, in which – according to prosecutors – police thought they were protecting drug dealers in Mexico, but they really did. ‘they were communicating with FBI agents posing as members of a cartel. The operation took place from December 2018 to March 2019.

Recordings of phone calls and videos submitted by the FBI showed that officers agreed to use patrols and receive payment to “monitor” counterfeit drug shipments that told them they were going to pass through Orangeburg, authorities have noted. Prosecutors have pointed out that some agents also conspired to create apocryphal documents for nonimmigrants in exchange for bribes.

Franklin was sentenced to five years and one month in prison, while Hunter was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, and Shazier was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison. Defendants must also complete three years of probation.

Earlier, the Justice Department found a Springfield ex-policeman and two Orangeburg County ex-agents guilty in the case. A security guard has also pleaded guilty to knowing about an illegal plan and failing to inform authorities. According to his lawyer, his sentence will be handed down at a later date.