A 41-year-old Augusta man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a Lexington County jury convicted him of trafficking nearly 500 grams of methamphetamine that deputies found hidden beneath the passenger seat of his car during a traffic stop on Interstate 20. Angelo Allen will serve the sentence in the South Carolina Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.
The jury convicted Allen on October 8 of trafficking 400 grams or more of methamphetamine, according to the 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office, which also confirmed the 25-year sentence. The case stemmed from a traffic stop along Interstate 20 in Lexington County on March 12, 2025. Investigators said they found 491 grams of methamphetamine concealed beneath the passenger seat of the vehicle Allen was driving.
Deputies stopped the vehicle, and Allen, who was the registered owner and the car's sole occupant, consented to a search, according to authorities. Allen was traveling from Augusta, Georgia, to Lexington at the time, and trial jurors heard testimony that he was headed to Lexington County for a drug transaction, per the solicitor's office.
Prior Record and Probation Status
Allen was on probation for aggravated assault when the traffic stop occurred, the solicitor's office said. He also has previous drug, gun, and aggravated-assault convictions in Georgia. The case was investigated by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department's multi-agency narcotics enforcement team.
Allen has since been transferred to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence, the report noted. Under South Carolina law, parole is not a guaranteed right but rather a matter of privilege, according to South Carolina Statehouse records, meaning inmates convicted of no-parole offenses have no right to release before completing their term. The state defines a no-parole offense as a Class A, B, or C felony, or an unclassified offense punishable by a maximum prison term of 20 years or more, per the South Carolina Code of Laws.
Other Methamphetamine Cases in the Region
Allen's 25-year term lands on the higher end of recent meth-trafficking sentences out of Lexington County. Christopher Lamar Corbitt, 34, was sentenced to 15 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections after a search tied to a July 2024 traffic stop turned up more than 93 grams of methamphetamine and a gun, as reported by WYFF4. Corbitt was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, the station noted.
Federal cases in the state have also produced lengthy sentences. Demetrius Tyare Glenn, 36, of Lexington, was sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In a separate federal case, Ramsey Adam Currie, 43, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine.
Assistant solicitors Player Long and Caroline Strom prosecuted Allen's case.
