NC man said powder was cremated ashes. It was heroin, York County SC deputies say
A Charlotte man is charged with heroin trafficking after telling York County, S.C., officers that a bag of powder in a car was cremation ashes, deputies said.
The seizure of illegal narcotic drugs could cost the suspect a mandatory 25 years in a South Carolina prison if he is convicted.
Justin Lee May, 39, was arrested after a traffic stop south of Lake Wylie near Rock Hill, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies found heroin in a rental car that May was a passenger in, Faris said.
Deputies searched the vehicle after finding several syringes, according to a sheriff’s office incident report. Inside a metal container in the center console, deputies found 23 grams of powder, the report stated.
May told deputies the powder was the ashes of his stepfather, the report stated.
May told deputies he had the ashes in the car because the stepfather “raised him and meant a lot to him,” deputies said.
Officers determined the powder was heroin, according to the report.
Deputies seized the drugs and May was taken into custody.
May was free on bond from two arrests in Charlotte in December and November, according to Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office records.
In November, May was charged with heroin possession and possession of drug paraphernalia by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers, North Carolina police and court records show. He was freed on $2,000 bond.
Then before Christmas, May was charged by CMPD with assault and released on a $500 bond.
A conviction for heroin trafficking in South Carolina carries a mandatory 25 year prison sentence, state law shows.
May remains in the York County jail on the heroin trafficking charge under a $25,000 bond.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
