Hartsville Man Sentenced in Federal Court for Drug Charges

Florence, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr. announced today that Claude Junior Moore, IV, 26, of Hartsville, was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and crack cocaine.

Evidence presented to the court showed that, for the past four years, Moore was involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and crack cocaine in Chesterfield and Darlington Counties.  On January 24, 2019, an officer with the Hartsville Police Department responded to a local store where he located a car matching the description of one which had fled from him six days earlier.  Upon searching the car, which belonged to Moore, the officer found more than six grams of methamphetamine.  On February 13, 2019, officers with the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office, acting upon information that Moore was in possession of narcotics, attempted to apprehend him while he was sitting in his car.  The officers activated their blue lights, drew their weapons, and commanded him to step out with his hands raised. Moore refused, put the car in reverse and, after almost hitting one of the officers, fled the scene.  Officers then pursued Moore, who eventually drove the car into a ditch and fled on foot.  During a search of the car officers found more than three grams of cocaine.  Prior to these incidents, on multiple occasions in June and July of 2017, Moore sold methamphetamine in the Hartsville area to a confidential informant working for law enforcement. There were also a significant number of cooperating witnesses who said that during the course of the conspiracy, Moore sold them methamphetamine and crack.  

Chief United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell sentenced Moore to 60 months incarceration, to be followed by a four-year term of court-ordered supervision.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office, and Hartsville Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office prosecuted the case.