A Lugoff man described by federal prosecutors as 48 years old has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, capping a case that began with a search warrant, a stash of drugs under a mattress and a chase that topped 100 miles per hour through three South Carolina counties.
Van Lydell Starling was sentenced to 180 months in prison followed by six years of court-ordered supervision, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis imposed the sentence, and because it was handed down in the federal system, Starling will not be eligible for parole. As WACH reported, the sentence closes out a case that stretches back more than three years to a raid at Starling's home.
Court records describe Starling as a Lugoff resident, though The State identified him as a 48-year-old Kershaw resident when reporting on his guilty plea. A July 2023 report from WIS-TV, meanwhile, listed him as 45 years old at the time of his arrest. The discrepancies in his age and hometown appear across the public record and were never resolved in the reporting reviewed for this story.
Search Warrant Turns Up Guns, Drugs and a Suspected Ledger
Kershaw County deputies executed a search warrant at Starling's home on Green Hill Road in Lugoff on July 20, 2023. Investigators found multiple guns inside, along with 0.52 grams of crack cocaine and 1.5 grams of fentanyl. The crack cocaine itself was located under the mattress in Starling's bedroom, per the same account from The State.
Alongside the drugs, authorities recovered digital scales, sandwich bags, a razor blade and a notebook believed to be a drug ledger, as well as Starling's identification card and $2,604 in cash. The State's report notes that law enforcement determined the crack cocaine was intended for distribution based on the quantities and paraphernalia recovered at the scene.
Search Triggers High-Speed Chase Through the Midlands
As deputies moved in, multiple people inside the house ran from law enforcement, according to WIS-TV. The flight escalated into a vehicle pursuit that stretched through Kershaw, Richland and Fairfield counties, with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour before it ended in Fairfield County. No injuries or property damage were reported from the chase.
The investigation drew in several agencies. The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon prosecuted it. The State's reporting also noted that multiple South Carolina state charges stemming from the 2023 arrest remained pending, as did additional charges tied to a 2025 arrest.
Case Fits a Broader Pattern in Federal Drug Sentencing
Starling's 15-year term is notably longer than the typical outcome for similar federal drug offenses. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that the average sentence for crack-cocaine trafficking offenses was 70 months in fiscal year 2025, up only slightly from 69 months in fiscal year 2021. The commission also recorded 478 people sentenced for crack-cocaine offenses nationwide that same fiscal year.
Starling's case is not the only recent South Carolina prosecution to produce a 15-year sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office separately announced that Miquan Xavier Fennick, 27, of Moncks Corner, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for selling drugs, including fentanyl, along with a pistol that had an obliterated serial number.
