The two targets of the largest narcotics conspiracy investigation in South Carolina have pleaded guilty to multiple charges against them.
Nicanor Rodriguez and Anthony Gracely founded and operated the drug trafficking organization from 2013 to 2021, mainly from the South Carolina Department of Corrections where both were inmates.
Authorities say Rodriguez and Gracely used contraband cell phones to run the drug operation, but also to organize the kidnapping of a pregnant 18 year old girl in Edgefield County. Officials say she was the daughter of an alleged co-conspirator who owed Rodriguez a drug debt.
Rodriguez has had an additional 40 years tacked on to his existing prison sentence for drug convictions. Gracely has yet to be sentenced on the additional charges.
Story courtesy of Mary Liz Nolan with WGAC.