John Monk

The State

COLUMBIA — An FBI agent testifying in federal court Tuesday revealed for the first time how an undercover agent codenamed “Jamie” pretended to be a Mexican drug cartel member to snare seven allegedly crooked Orangeburg County law enforcement officers.

“The undercover agent asked if they would like to do something to make more money,” FBI Special Agent Luke Davis testified during a hearing at the Columbia federal courthouse to see if two of the seven Orangeburg County law officers could go free on bond.

Five officers were Orangeburg County sheriff’s deputies; two were officers with the town of Springfield police department in western Orangeburg County.

Undercover agent “Jamie” told the law officers that he “worked for the cartel and they were moving drugs,” Davis testified.

All the Orangeburg officers had to do to earn cartel cash was guard tractor trailer trucks that were traveling through Orangeburg County, about 35 miles south of Columbia, Davis testified.

Some of the trucks would be traveling south through South Carolina with loads of money from selling drugs, and other trucks traveling north would be full of drugs, Jamie told the cops, stressing that “this is dope money.”

Six of the seven Orangeburg law officers who were arrested last week agreed to guard the trucks around the clock, Davis testified. The FBI used two places to park the trucks — one near a Hardee’s and the other near Love’s Travel Stop just off I-26 southeast of Orangeburg.

The Orangeburg officers, who wore their uniforms, were conscientious about how they guarded the trucks. “They would take photos and send them to the undercover officer to show him that they were not being messed with,” Davis testified.

Davis also revealed the FBI cooked up a plan to arrest two alleged conspirators — Springfield police chief Lacra Jenkins and Springfield police officer Allan Hunter — in a way so the two men would not have their guns on them. Springfield, a town of 500 in western Orangeburg County, has four police officers.

“Jamie” told the two officers that the cartel liked their work and wanted to invite them to Miami, where cartel members would take them fishing in a big boat, Davis testified. The cartel would fly them to Miami.

So, early Friday morning without their sidearms, which are not allowed on planes, Jenkins and Hunter arrived at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, where they thought they would catch a plane to Miami to go fishing with cartel honchos. Instead, FBI agents swooped down on them at the airplane ticket counter, Davis testified.

No details were available about how the other five law officers were arrested early Friday morning. However, about 50 FBI agents in tactical gear and using black SUVs were spotted about 8 a.m. Friday at an Orangeburg area Chick-fil-A, eating breakfast apparently after making arrests, a law enforcement source said.

The FBI sting began in February 2018 when the State Law Enforcement Division got a tip that an Orangeburg County sheriff’s deputy was selling counterfeit paperwork for special visas, called U-Visas, that would help immigrants stay in the country. SLED then contacted the FBI, and the federal sting began.

“Jamie,” the undercover agent, got in touch with the deputy and told her he operated a trucking company that shipped electronic gear and he needed some counterfeit documents for his workers to help them stay in the U.S.

After buying the illegal paperwork for a while and meeting Springfield officer Hunter, “Jamie” told Hunter he really worked for a Mexican cartel and would like Orangeburg officers’ help.

As evidence for any future trial, the FBI has numerous wiretaps, audio and video recordings.

In one wiretapped cell phone call between Hunter and Jenkins, played in court Tuesday, Hunter tells Jenkins how he stopped a female motorist, gave her a ticket and then dismissed it in return for a sexual favor. Jenkins tells Hunter he approves.

At Tuesday’s hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Will Lewis had the agent testify to try to persuade Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges to deny bond to Jenkins and Hunter, who the agent said was the “ringleader.”

But Hodges eventually sided with Jenkins’ lawyer, James Craig, and Hunter’s lawyer, Mike Duncan, who argued their clients didn’t pose a danger to the community and were unlikely flight risks because of their long ties to Orangeburg County and good work histories.

Hodges put a $150,000 secured bond on Hunter, and a $100,000 secured bond on Jenkins. Both men are largely confined to their residences pending trial and must wear GPS tracking monitors.

Craig tried to downplay the seriousness of the crime, seeming to put some of the responsibility on the FBI.

“This started out a white collar crime (with the visas),” Craig said. “It turned into a drug case because the FBI recruited them into it.”

The FBI never put actual drugs or money into the trucks the Orangeburg law officers guarded, Davis testified. The officers face conspiracy charges because they believed they were helping the cartel.