Rock Hill felon cried in court, said he had changed. Now he faces more charges.

Convicted drug dealer Samuel Wilson Sr. tearfully told a judge he had changed his ways as he asked for mercy Thursday afternoon, when he pled guilty to dog abuse charges.

“I’m tired of giving the state years of my life,” he told a judge, as he asked for leniency.

The judge sentenced Wilson to 45 months in prison for dog abuse, arrest warrants show.

Later, police filed more charges against him.

Wilson, 47, had served two previous prison sentences, one for drug distribution convictions and another for trying to hire a hit man to kill two Rock Hill police officers, court and police documents show.

Then late Thursday, while in jail, he was charged with four felony charges involving crack cocaine.

Officers with the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit charged Wilson with two counts of third-offense felony distribution of crack cocaine, and two counts of distribution near a school in connection with October drug sales, arrest warrants show.

Wilson was out on bond in October, after a May arrest on the dog abuse charges, court testimony showed. Wilson pleaded guilty to three counts of felony ill treatment of dogs.

Wilson faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted on the most recent drug charges.

Prosecutors said Wilson has a criminal history that dates to 1987. It includes two past convictions for felony cocaine sales, cruelty to children and other charges.

Wilson was sentenced to 25 years in 1992, for conspiracy to commit murder of the police officers and his first drug felony, State Law Enforcement Division and court records show.

Wilson then was sentenced to 12 years in 2002 for a drug distribution conviction and convictions on other charges after his release from the first prison term, records show.

Wilson now is in the York County jail awaiting transport to the South Carolina Department of Corrections for the dog abuse convictions. It remains unclear when Wilson will return to a York County courtroom to face the pending drug charges.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Rock Hill felon cried in court, said he had changed. Now he faces more charges.."