York County man, released from prison after 2014 shooting, in jail on drug charges

A York County man, sent to prison for his role in the 2104 drug-related home invasion and shooting of a disabled Vietnam War veteran, is back in jail.

Ben Patrick Smith, 46, was released from prison in July.

He was taken into custody after a traffic stop on U.S 21, when he was found in possession of meth, according to probation officials and agents with the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit.

Smith was charged Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine, according to York County jail records.

Smith was sentenced to seven years in prison on burglary and conspiracy charges in the 2014 incident, where Marine Corps veteran Wayne Whiteside Sr. was shot.

Smith was released from prison July 6 under the South Carolina early release program after serving about four years, said Pete O’Boyle, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services.

Smith has previous convictions for robbery, larceny, assault, burglary, receiving stolen goods and resisting arrest, court records show. He served eight years in prison in the 1990s, records show.

Whiteside was shot in 2014 at his home off Mount Gallant Road outside Rock Hill.

Smith was part of a three-person plot to rob Whiteside for money to get meth, court testimony showed.

Whiteside’s granddaughter, with Smith and another man, planned the scheme. Whiteside fought back and shot at the attackers. He was shot during the attack.

The granddaughter, Kayla Whiteside, sought what attorneys described as “vigilante justice” and money from her grandfather after she was sexually assaulted as a child, court testimony showed.

Kayla Whiteside was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in the scheme. She remains At Leath Correctional center for women. She is not eligible for release until 2023, S.C. Department of Corrections records show.

The shooter, Wolfgang Liewald, is serving a 17-year sentence for attempted murder and burglary. Liewald is not set for release until 2029.