995 days after arrest, York County woman pleads guilty to meth, body armor, guns
A York County woman who spent almost 1,000 days in jail after drugs, body armor and guns were found at her home pleaded guilty to dealing meth and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors and court records.
Dana Michelle Matheson, 43, pleaded guilty to 11 charges in York County criminal court that include methamphetamine trafficking, said Marina Hamilton, 16th Circuit assistant solicitor.
South Carolina Visiting Circuit Court Judge Grace Knie sentenced Matheson to 10 years in the S.C. Department of Corrections after the guilty pleas this week, records show.
Matheson’s 10-year sentence includes credit for the 995 days she spent in jail pending trial, according to York County Clerk of Court records. Only one other inmate of more than 400 people in the county jail had been in custody longer awaiting trial, York County Sheriff’s Office records show.
Defendants in South Carolina have a right to a jury trial but Matheson waived that right by pleading guilty.
At the time of her September 2018 arrest when she was denied bond, Matheson had been free on bail from a July 2018 drug and weapon arrest.
Matheson was arrested in September 2018 at her home near the North Carolina state line, north of Clover, by York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, Hamilton said. Police found meth, heroin, fentanyl and other drugs, Hamilton said. Police also seized guns from the home that had a camera surveillance system set up on the property, Hamilton said.
Police seized three ballistic vests from the home, Hamilton said.
Co-defendant John Winfree Facenda, 42, of Clover pleaded guilty by Alford Plea to trafficking meth, three weapons charges and other drug charges in September last year and was sentenced to seven years in prison, records show. With an Alford Plea, a defendant does not admit committing the act, but accepts there is enough evidence to convict.
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 10:03 AM.
