A 2023 shots-fired call in Easley was followed by a sedan fleeing and crashing into a home's front yard. The case has finally closed with two men sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $200,000 fines each. Patrick Lewis Gilliam Robinson and Antwan Trashawn Wolfe were convicted by a Pickens County jury on charges stemming from a sedan that fled the scene, crashed, and was found loaded with thousands of methamphetamine pills, guns and cocaine.
According to foxcarolina.com, the case began early on Aug. 26, 2023, when the Easley Police Department responded to a call of shots fired. Officers arriving on scene saw a sedan fleeing the area. The sedan crashed into the front yard of a home. Robinson was behind the wheel and Wolfe was riding as a passenger; both men fled on foot before the car was searched.
What investigators found inside the wrecked sedan became the backbone of the case. WSPA 7News reports officers recovered more than 4,000 pressed, multicolor pills containing methamphetamine, along with oxycodone pills, bags of marijuana, two rifles, a handgun, ammunition magazines, a scale and plastic baggies, as well as personal effects belonging to Robinson. Officers also found 2 grams of cocaine in the vehicle, the station's report notes.
Jury Convictions and Sentencing
A Pickens County jury convicted both Robinson and Wolfe of trafficking more than 400 grams of methamphetamine, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, per the same account. Both men were sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000 each, foxcarolina.com reported.
Beyond the shared charges, each man faced additional individual convictions tied to the case. The jury also convicted Robinson individually on charges of possession of a machine gun, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and failure to stop for blue lights, while Wolfe was separately convicted of breach of peace, according to foxcarolina.com. The case was investigated by the Easley Police Department.
What South Carolina Law Says About Weapons in Violent Crimes
South Carolina's criminal code addresses the weapons charge both men faced. Under the state's statute covering firearm possession during a violent crime, a person convicted of the underlying violent offense who also possessed a firearm during its commission must be imprisoned for five years, according to the South Carolina State House code.
Separately, the South Carolina Attorney General's office has described a broader investigation alleging that defendants in a different case used illegal pill presses to manufacture blue pills containing fentanyl and distributed them through a drug trafficking organization that also allegedly trafficked methamphetamine, according to the South Carolina Attorney General. That allegation is not established as connected to the Robinson and Wolfe case.
Methamphetamine trafficking cases have drawn stiff sentences elsewhere in the state recently. In North Charleston, 36-year-old Jerell Emmanuel Risher was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in September after pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, District of South Carolina.
