SC man sentenced after DEA investigation

U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins recently announced Marty Sanders, 34 of Sumter, S.C., was sentenced in federal court on drug charges.

U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour sentenced Sanders to 210 months imprisonment. A joint investigation was initiated in early 2006 by the Sumter Police Department and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department, after both agencies received numerous complaints about a pill distribution ring involving prescription drugs, such as Oxycontin, Tylox, and Dilaudid, operating in the Sumter area.

Federal agents with the DEA’s prescription drug diversion unit joined the investigation. The case included several undercover purchases and numerous interviews with cooperating witnesses. Investigators estimate that the group distributed thousands of prescription pills over the last three years. Sanders pled guilty and admitted his involvement with the ring.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Sumter Police Department, and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah B. Barbier of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.