IAPE Evidence Blog

States News Ser­vice
BYLINE: States News Service

Spar­tan­burg, SC

The fol­low­ing infor­ma­tion was released by the Colum­bia Divi­sion of the Fed­eral Bureau of Investigation:

Act­ing United States Attor­ney Kevin F. McDon­ald stated today that for­mer Spar­tan­burg County Clerk of Court Mar­cus Woodrow Kitchens, age 42, of Spar­tan­burg, and Woodruff res­i­dent Terry Glenn Lan­ford, age 53, were both indicted by a fed­eral grand jury for Con­spir­acy to Dis­trib­ute Metham­phet­a­mine and Cocaine, a vio­la­tion of Title 21, United States Code, Sec­tion 846. The Indict­ment also charged Kitchens with theft from an orga­ni­za­tion that receives fed­eral fund­ing, namely Spar­tan­burg County, in vio­la­tion of Title 18, United States Code, Sec­tion 666(a)(1)(A).

Kitchens and Lan­ford were arrested by mon­i­tor­ing DEA agents last week after meet­ing in a Spar­tan­burg restau­rant to allegedly exchange drug money. Author­i­ties allege that the drugs involved were stolen by Kitchens from the evi­dence room at the Spar­tan­burg County Cour­t­house, and then sold by Lan­ford to a man in Florida who was actu­ally work­ing under­cover for the United States Drug Enforce­ment Administration.

Mr. McDon­ald stated the max­i­mum penalty Kitchens and Lan­ford could receive on the drug charge is impris­on­ment for 20 years and a fine of $1,000,000. Kitchens faces an addi­tional max­i­mum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000 for the offi­cial theft charge.

Mr. McDon­ald stated that the case was inves­ti­gated by agents of the DEA, the FBI, and SLED, and that he has assigned the case to Assis­tant United States Attor­neys Andrew B. Moor­man, Sr., and A. Lance Crick of the Greenville office for prosecution.

The Act­ing United States Attor­ney stated that all charges in this Indict­ment are merely accu­sa­tions and that all defen­dants are pre­sumed inno­cent until and unless proven guilty.

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Inter­na­tional Asso­ci­a­tion for Prop­erty and Evi­dence
“Law Enforce­ment Serv­ing the Needs of Law Enforce­ment“
www.IAPE.org

The State (Colum­bia, South Car­olina)
BYLINE: Colum­bia — The State

Spar­tan­burg, SC

SPARTANBURG — The Spar­tan­burg County clerk of court has resigned after being charged with tak­ing drugs from an evi­dence room and then sell­ing them.

Mar­cus Kitchens was arrested this week after allegedly mak­ing a $3,000 pay­ment to a man he thought would find a buyer for the drugs. Agents said the mid­dle­man told the Drug Enforce­ment Admin­is­tra­tion where he got the drugs.

Kitchens is charged with con­spir­ing to pos­sess with intent to dis­trib­ute cocaine and metham­phet­a­mine. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Gov. Mark San­ford appointed Kitchens in 2003 when Mark Ham­mond stepped down to become sec­re­tary of state.

A spokesman said San­ford is work­ing on replac­ing Kitchens.

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Inter­na­tional Asso­ci­a­tion for Prop­erty and Evi­dence
“Law Enforce­ment Serv­ing the Needs of Law Enforce­ment“
www.IAPE.org

The Greenville News (South Car­olina)
BYLINE: Paul Alongi Staff writer, palongi@greenvillenews.com

Spar­tan­burg, SC

The FBI will inves­ti­gate the integrity of the evi­dence room at the Spar­tan­burg County Cour­t­house after Clerk of Court Mar­cus Woodrow Kitchens was accused of tak­ing drugs out of a cour­t­house evi­dence vault and con­spir­ing with a real estate devel­oper to sell them in Florida.

Kitchens and Terry Glenn Lan­ford, of Spar­tan­burg County, were charged in a fed­eral crim­i­nal com­plaint with con­spir­ing to pos­sess with intent to dis­trib­ute cocaine and methamphetamine.

The com­plaint was filed in U.S. Dis­trict Court in Spar­tan­burg and unsealed Tues­day fol­low­ing a months-long inves­ti­ga­tion by the Drug Enforce­ment Administration.

U.S. Attor­ney Kevin McDon­ald said the FBI has been called to inves­ti­gate the integrity of the evi­dence room. He said he didn’t know of any cases affected by miss­ing drugs.

Sev­enth Cir­cuit Solic­i­tor Trey Gowdy said the clerk of court had access to seized drugs and other con­tra­band related to cases that have gone to trial. That could become impor­tant if an affected case is appealed or chal­lenged through post-conviction relief, Gowdy said.

“There are lots of things in jeop­ardy right now, mainly people’s con­fi­dence in the jus­tice sys­tem,” Gowdy said.

Gov. Mark San­ford appointed Kitchens to his post in 2003 after Mark Ham­mond resigned to take over as sec­re­tary of state. Kitchens, a Repub­li­can, retained his job in 2008 by win­ning an unop­posed election.

San­ford has the power to sus­pend Kitchens after receiv­ing a grand jury indict­ment, spokesman Ben Fox said. No indict­ment had been filed in court.

Kitchens and Lan­ford were arrested Tues­day at a Spar­tan­burg restau­rant after law enforce­ment offi­cers mon­i­tored a meet­ing between the two that involved the exchange of $3,000 from Lan­ford to Kitchens, McDon­ald said. The name of the restau­rant wasn’t released.

Mag­is­trate Judge Bruce Howe Hen­dricks ordered that Kitchens post a secured bond of $25,000 sur­ren­der the keys to the Spar­tan­burg County Cour­t­house and not return. She set a $25,000 unse­cured bond for Lanford.

DEA Spe­cial Agent Matthew Rammes wrote in an affi­davit that an Orlando, Fla., drug traf­ficker who was arrested last year agreed to coop­er­ate with authorities.

Staff writer Paul Alongi can be reached at 864 – 298-4746

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Inter­na­tional Asso­ci­a­tion for Prop­erty and Evi­dence
“Law Enforce­ment Serv­ing the Needs of Law Enforce­ment“
www.IAPE.org