(Anderson, SC). The final defendant in the kidnapping, robbery and murder of C. J. Patel of Anderson, Zachary Gantt, was sentenced today in Anderson General Sessions Court. The Honorable R. Lawton McIntosh sentenced Gantt to 22 years on each of 3 charges, Voluntary Manslaughter, Kidnapping, and Armed Robbery and 5 years on Possession of a Weapon during the Commission of a Violent Crime. All sentences are to run concurrently. Gantt had pled guilty in November of 2014 and sentencing was deferred.
Chandrakant (C.J.) Patel was last seen around 6 p.m. on July 1st, 2012, leaving the Exxon station a short distance from I85 on Clemson Boulevard. He and his family managed the station. He told one of the workers he would be back but he never returned. Mr. Patel’s car was found abandoned in Fair Play on July 3rd. His body was found July 11th in a wooded area off U.S. 29 a few miles from the Georgia state line. An investigation by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the arrest of Jeremiah Johnson, Zachary Gantt, Ezra Williams and Kendra Howell.