Rock Hill twins plead guilty after ‘clandestine’ fentanyl drug lab bust near Lake Wylie
Timario Gayton pleaded guilty two months ago in connection to the largest fentanyl bust in York County history. Now, his twin brother, Timothy Gayton, also faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty, prosecutors say.
Timothy Markee Gayton, 31, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Columbia in front of Judge Sherri Lydon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and public records in the case. He pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy after more than 60 pounds of fentanyl were seized from a mobile home along Lake Wylie between Rock Hill and Charlotte in October 2022, federal prosecutors said.
He was arrested in February 2023 — four months after his twin brother. Federal and local drug agents and prosecutors say the operation along the lake that straddles York and Mecklenburg counties was a “clandestine” drug lab.
Three other indictments against Timothy Gayton were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, court records show.
The plea agreement was sealed by Judge Lydon after a request from Gayton, according to court records.
Twin brother already pleaded guilty
The conspiracy charge carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.
Timothy Gayton’s case is related to the investigation involving his twin brother, but the two were charged in separate federal cases, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Veronnica Hill said in a statement to The Herald.
Timario Gayton pleaded guilty in January to a similar conspiracy charge, according to Hill and court records.
In the case involving Timario Gayton, Thomas Anthony Perry and Javaris Latrey Johnson, both of York County, have also pleaded guilty in 2023 to drug conspiracy charges. Timario Gayton, Perry, Johnson and Quonzy Hope were all arrested in October 2022 when police raided the trailer near Lake Wylie. Charges against Hope, of Rock Hill, remain pending in that case.
Drug seizure and investigation
In October 2022, York County police and federal agents seized pill presses, guns, money, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, court documents show. The amount of drugs found is the largest-ever single seizure in York County history, officials said.
Afterward at a news conference, South Carolina officials said the 60-plus pounds of fentanyl taken from the trailer was enough to kill the entire 5 million-plus population of the state.
Fentanyl is around 50 times more potent than heroin and has been a part of overdose deaths locally and across the country, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local officials. Law enforcement says fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is cheap, easy to get, highly addictive, and lethal.
The York County Coroner’s Office said in 2023 it was averaging three opioid overdoes every week.
Law enforcement, prosecutors, and politicians are getting public pressure to take action. In South Carolina in 2023, the state enacted a fentanyl trafficking law that carries stiffer penalties for the drug.
The fentanyl crisis has gotten so severe in Charlotte that police, prosecutors and officials said at a news conference Wednesday they support x-ray machines at the US.-Mexico border to stop the drug from entering the country, the Charlotte Observer reported.
What happens now?
All five men charged in the two cases have been in jail since they were arrested and remain in custody.
No sentencing date has been set for the four men who have pleaded guilty.
No trial date has been set for the case remaining against Hope.
