Drug dealer got weed in the mail with help from postal carrier in SC, prosecutor says

A South Carolina man is going to prison after he got assistance from a postal carrier to have drugs delivered in the mail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lemont Antwaun Darby, 37, was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Monday news release.

Darby was a drug dealer who regularly received packages of marijuana through the U.S. Mail from California and elsewhere, according to the release.

In March 2022, Darby approached 31-year-old Chapin resident Mjaan Roland, who was a city carrier with the Columbia Main Post Office and Dutch Fork Station, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Darby asked Roland to “facilitate the delivery of these packages of marijuana,” as the address Darby used was on Roland’s route, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Darby compensated Roland for some of the deliveries by paying him between $100 and $200, while on other occasions he gave him small amounts of drugs, according to the release.

Darby was sentenced to 46 months in prison, to be followed by a two-year term of court-ordered supervision, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. There is no parole in the federal system.

Roland previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, according to the release.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, Richland County Sheriff’s Department, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston D. Holliday Jr. is prosecuting the case.

Columbia attorney Michael Laubshire was previously listed as Darby’s lawyer, and two state drug charges are still pending, Richland County court records show.

Roland, previously represented by Columbia attorney Seth Rose, was arrested but not indicted on a state criminal conspiracy charge that was disposed, according to court records.