Columbia, SC - A federal jury convicted Michael Young Jr.
and Vance Volious Jr. of dealing drugs and plotting to kill Young’s ex-wife
with a mail bomb they bought with bitcoin from the Dark Web’s Alpha Bay Market.
United States Attorney Beth Drake stated that Young, 32, and Volious, 36, both
of Columbia S.C., were convicted of conspiracy, transport of an explosive with
the intent to kill, mailing a non-mailable explosive with the intent to kill,
and carrying an explosive during the commission of another felony. Judge J.
Michelle Childs presided over the trial and will impose sentence after a
presentence report is prepared by the United States Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the trial revealed that while
incarcerated in the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Young obtained a
contraband cellphone smuggled into the Broad River Correctional
Institution. Young used that contraband
cellphone to run a drug business distributing marijuana he obtained from a
California supplier and from purchases on the Dark Web. Drugs purchased by Young
would be shipped to a conspirator’s residence before being picked up by Volious
for re-distribution.
While this drug conspiracy among Young, Volious, and others
was operating, the conspirators also plotted to kill Young’s ex-wife. This was
not the first time that Young had tried to kill her, as he was serving a
fifty-year sentence after having been convicted of attempting to kill her and
of murdering her father in an incident in 2007. Young turned back to the Dark
Web on his contraband cellphone looking to purchase a mail bomb. Young used Bitcoin to pay for the mail bomb
to be sent to a conspirator’s residence in Irmo. He also had re-shipment labels
addressed to his ex-wife to be sent to Volious’ house in Columbia.
Co-conspirator Tyrell Fears – who previously pleaded guilty – obtained the
labels from Volious, armed the mail bomb, and delivered the inert explosives
package to the Post Office in Irmo on June 6, 2017. After a United States
Postal Inspector recovered the mail bomb, search warrants and interviews the
next morning led to the federal arrest and indictment of Young, Volious, and
Fears.
U.S. Attorney Beth Drake thanked the law enforcement team
that worked the case, “This was a particularly challenging operation, and we
got a great result because of great policing.
The case certainly brings to bare the very real and dangerous problem
that is contraband cell phones in our prisons.”
South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan
Stirling lauded the collaborative effort between local, state, and federal law
enforcement in this matter and emphasized the escalating threat that contraband
cell phones in prisons pose to citizens across South Carolina. “I would to thank our local, state, and
federal partners for working alongside SCDC’s Division of Police Services in
this investigation to convictions in this case.
These convictions underscore what I have been saying for
years—contraband cell phones in the hands of prisoners pose a significant
threat to not only other prisoners and corrections staff but to the general
public as well.”
“This conviction was made possible by the coordinated
efforts and exceptional work of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, all our
law enforcement partners and the US Attorney’s Office,” said Alphonso Norris,
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Columbia Division. “Our ability to stop a horrific crime from
being committed and dismantle a drug trafficking enterprise speaks to the past
and present commitment of the FBI and our partners to come together and devote significant
resources for the protection of our communities.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Joint Terrorism Task Force, United States Postal Inspection
Service, South Carolina Department of Corrections’ Division of Police Services,
State Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina Information and Intelligence
Center, Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Lexington Country Sheriff’s
Department, Irmo Police Department, USC Division of Law Enforcement and Safety,
and Columbia Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorneys Will Lewis and Jay Richardson with assistance from Dan
Goldberg of the Fifth Circuit’s Solicitor’s Office.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment