Ledger found in search leads SC man to plead guilty to drug crime, official says
A South Carolina man faces decades behind bars in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a drug dealer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Van Lydell Starling, a 48-year-old Kershaw resident, pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday in a news release.
Starling faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, restitution, and three years of supervision to follow any prison sentence, according to the release. U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Starling after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The charge stems from 2023, when Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched a Green Hill Road home in Lugoff, which was the known residence of Starling, according to the release.
On July 20, 2023, deputies found multiple guns, a box of sandwich bags with a razor blade, several digital scales with white residue on them, a clear container containing crack cocaine residue, a black notebook that appeared to be a drug ledger, Starling’s identification card and crack cocaine located under the mattress in his bedroom, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Based upon the amounts of drugs, the multiple digital scales, the sandwich bags, and the drug ledger, law enforcement determined that the crack cocaine was intended to be distributed, according to the release.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, the case was also investigated by the ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Witherspoon is prosecuting the case, according to the release. Attorney Tivis Sutherland was listed as Starling’s lawyer, Kershaw County court records show.
Multiple South Carolina charges from the July 20, 2023, arrest are pending, as are other charges from a 2025 arrest, according to court records.
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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Ledger found in search leads SC man to plead guilty to drug crime, official says."
