Regional Industry & News

Lexington County man caught mailing thousands of fentanyl pills gets 10 years

NOTE: The above video is a livestream of WIS featuring current newscasts, Soda City Living and Gray Media’s Local News Live.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A 41-year-old Lexington County man has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison after federal and local agents intercepted outbound packages containing fentanyl and uncovered a widespread trafficking operation.

Gregory Hill, of Lexington, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for distribution of fentanyl and cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

Court documents show that on Oct. 4, 2024, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department conducted surveillance on Hill as he left his Lexington home and drove to a local business to ship two parcels out of state.

Officers inspected the packages at the shipping facility and noted Hill’s known aliases were listed as the sender. A police K-9 conducted an open-air sniff and alerted to the presence of narcotics.

After obtaining a search warrant, agents opened the packages and discovered 984 grams of fentanyl powder in one parcel and 1,019 counterfeit fentanyl pills in the other.

On Oct. 7, 2024, federal and local officers executed a search warrant at Hill’s residence, seizing an additional 1,438 fentanyl pills, more than $29,000 in cash, and bulk packaging materials. A subsequent search of Hill’s storage unit uncovered a detailed drug ledger.

Investigators determined Hill was ultimately responsible for distributing 14 kilograms of cocaine, 984 grams of fentanyl powder, and 32,458 fentanyl pills to regional and out-of-state drug traffickers.

U.S. District Judge Sherri A. Lydon ordered Hill to serve 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.