Federal agents arrest county couple

2 Lexington County residents were taken into custody by federal agents after an investigation into their possible participation into drug activity.

Agents from the US Marshall Service and the DEA arrested David and Jennifer Mozingo Nov. 4, the Lexington Ledger’s Paul Kirby reported.

Agents searched their business, SinWorx Custom Cycles, LLC, on Old Barnwell Road. The business dealt with custom motorcycles.

Their business website has been shut down, and a short message there indicates they are no longer in operation

Both of the Mozingos have been moved to an undisclosed holding facility by the marshals.

The DEA has not released any information regarding the action.

Fire damages mobile home in Gaston

A mobile home was damaged by fire on Gator Road Nov. 5.

The fire was reported about 3:20 pm on the road that sits between Gaston, South Congaree, and Edmund.

First arriving fire crews reported that smoke was coming out of several sides of the home when they pulled up.

Neighbors said that the home appeared to be damaged to the point that it was uninhabitable.

No injuries have been reported.

The county hasn’t released the cause of the fire.

Lexington man sentenced for drugs, domestic violence

A Lexington man has been sentenced to 3 years in prison on charges for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, hit and run, and 2 charges of domestic violence.

Matthew Sanders Johns, 29, pleaded guilty Nov. 5 in Lexington County and was sentenced by Judge DeAndrea Benjamin.

Johns was arrested on Oct. 17, 2018, after he barricaded himself inside his home for several hours. He had refused to come outside when police arrived to arrest him on the hit and run charge.

Johns was sentenced to 15 years, suspended to 3 years in prison and 2 years of probation on the drug charge, 3 years for domestic violence, and 1 year for the hit and run.

The sentences will run concurrently so he’ll be in prison for 3 years.

He also has to pay $200 restitution to the victim of the hit and run to cover her insurance deductible.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General James Haarsgaard.

Cayce offender sentenced to 20 years

Repeat sex offender Rodney Jerome Furtick, 51, was sentenced to 20 years incarceration for criminal sexual conduct – 2nd Degree.

A jury found Furtick guilty of the Nov. 18, 2015 assault of a Cayce woman in her home while her 1-year-old son was present.

This crime is classified under South Carolina law as a violent crime and a “no parole” offense. Circuit Court Judge Frank R. Addy, Jr. imposed the sentence.

Furtick’s prior record includes a conviction for committing a lewd act upon a child in 1988 which landed him on the Sex Offender Registry, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature; burglary; 2 counts of assault and battery – 2nd degree; and numerous convictions for drug offenses and larcenies.

2 pedestrians killed

2 pedestrians were killed in the 900 block of Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia, Thursday. The accident occurred around 6 pm.

Rodney T. Mack, 41, of Gaston and Mack S. Rogers, 27, of West Columbia were pronounced dead at the scene due their injuries.

Mack was walking in the roadway when he was struck by a westbound vehicle.

An occupant of that vehicle, Rogers, approached Mack in order to render aid, and both were struck by another westbound vehicle, according to Scott Morrison, assistant chief of the West Columbia Police Department.

Neither of the drivers were injured.

Lexington man pleads to wire fraud

William Tye Grisel, 39, of Lexington, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud.

Grisel used his position and access to company networks and credit cards to embezzle approximately $1,050,000 from his employer, Big Red Box, a waste management call center located in Columbia.

Senior United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. accepted Grisel’s plea and will sentence him after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.