Anderson, S.C. – Matthew Hemmings, a/k/a Heartnel Powell, 32, a Jamaican national, and Huntley Anthony Dixon, 30, of Loganville, Georgia, were sentenced Wednesday to twenty-five (25) years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections after being convicted of Trafficking Cocaine by an Anderson County jury, announced Solicitor Micah E. Black.
The pair were arrested following a June 14, 2023, traffic stop by Master Deputy Kaleb Grant of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Directed Patrol Unit. The stop occurred on Interstate 85 after deputies observed multiple traffic violations. Deputies noted significant nervous behavior from both occupants and conflicting statements about their travel, prompting them to deploy a trained law enforcement canine to conduct a free-air sniff of the vehicle. The canine alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle, leading to a further search. Concealed inside a Bluetooth speaker in the back seat deputies discovered over two (2) kilograms of cocaine. Testimony at trial revealed the street value of the cocaine was over $200,000. Deputies later determined Hemmings was an undocumented immigrant utilizing an alias after previously being deported under his birth name.
The Honorable Judge R. Scott Sprouse presided over the trial and imposed the twenty-five (25) year sentence on each defendant. Both defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. The convictions are also considered violent and serious, and count as a strike under South Carolina’s “three strikes and you are out” law.
Assistant Solicitor Mary Catherine Harbin prosecuted the case for the State, and was assisted by Assistant Solicitor Chase Kinsey, Investigator Michael Cox, and Paralegal Bonnie Dickerson. Hemmings was represented by William Yarborough, of the Greenville County Bar. Dixon was represented by Clark Grounsell, also of the Greenville County Bar.
Solicitor Black commended the investigative work that led to the convictions.
“Interstate drug traffickers continue to use our highways as a pipeline for illegal narcotics,” Solicitor Black stated. “Thanks to the vigilance of Sheriff’s Offices deputies—and the strong, coordinated effort of our law enforcement partners—these dangerous offenders were stopped before these drugs ever reached our communities. Our office will continue to pursue the maximum lawful penalties against those who traffic large quantities of narcotics in Anderson County.”