FORMER SPARTANBURG CLERK OF COURT INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY

States News Service
BYLINE: States News Service

Spartanburg, SC

The following information was released by the Columbia Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald stated today that former Spartanburg County Clerk of Court Marcus Woodrow Kitchens, age 42, of Spartanburg, and Woodruff resident Terry Glenn Lanford, age 53, were both indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Cocaine, a violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. The Indictment also charged Kitchens with theft from an organization that receives federal funding, namely Spartanburg County, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(1)(A).

Kitchens and Lanford were arrested by monitoring DEA agents last week after meeting in a Spartanburg restaurant to allegedly exchange drug money. Authorities allege that the drugs involved were stolen by Kitchens from the evidence room at the Spartanburg County Courthouse, and then sold by Lanford to a man in Florida who was actually working undercover for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mr. McDonald stated the maximum penalty Kitchens and Lanford could receive on the drug charge is imprisonment for 20 years and a fine of $1,000,000. Kitchens faces an additional maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000 for the official theft charge.

Mr. McDonald stated that the case was investigated by agents of the DEA, the FBI, and SLED, and that he has assigned the case to Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew B. Moorman, Sr., and A. Lance Crick of the Greenville office for prosecution.

The Acting United States Attorney stated that all charges in this Indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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