SC man who ran drug ring from Rock Hill to Columbia gets 20 years, officials say

A Rock Hill man with a past conviction for drugs in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing pounds of fentanyl in a ring that spanned from York County to Columbia, according to federal prosecutors and court records.

Sean Demetrius Goins, 54, was the leader of a drug trafficking organization until his arrest in 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. DEA agents found more than three pounds of fentanyl and guns after Goins’ arrest, prosecutors said in a statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Sherri Lydon sentenced Goins at a hearing in Columbia to prison plus eight years of supervised release, prosecutors said. There is no parole in the federal system.

Goins pleaded guilty in June 2024 on three indictments related to distributing the synthetic opioid, online court records show. Fentanyl is cheap, deadly and easily obtained on the street, police and prosecutors in both Carolinas have said in recent years. It is far stronger than heroin.

Andrew Dys

The Herald

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Andrew Dys covers breaking news and public safety for The Herald, where he has been a reporter and columnist since 2000. He has won 51 South Carolina Press Association awards for his coverage of crime, race, justice, and people. He is author of the book “Slice of Dys” and his work is in the U.S. Library of Congress.