CAMPOBELLO MAN RECEIVES 25-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR DRUG SMUGGLING OPERATION

A Campobello man received a 25-year prison sentence today after a jury determined that he smuggled more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana into Spartanburg County.

Wilbur Summers, 25, of Campobello, was convicted of trafficking marijuana at the conclusion of a three-day jury trial. He will serve 85 percent of the prison sentence before he is eligible for release.

Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies, state Transport Police and federal agents arrested Summers Nov. 16, 2005 at the conclusion of an investigation that stretched to the border of Mexico. Federal agents intercepted a tractor trailer filled with marijuana and utilized an undercover operative to make the local delivery. The smuggled marijuana was hidden in clay pottery. Authorities arrested Summers and several others as the pottery was removed from the tractor trailer. The street value of the seized marijuana was $1.3 to $1.7 million.

Summers took control of the shipment and organized its unloading. Further investigation revealed that Summers set up a phony business as a front for the drug smuggling operation.

“Spartanburg County is not going to be a destination for drug trafficking,” Assistant Solicitor Sarah Ganss said. “This case shows how federal, state and local law enforcement can work together to successfully combat drug trafficking.”