COLUMBIA — David Lee Cook, 38, of Central, entered a guilty plea in federal court in Greenville to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841.
U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Cain accepted the guilty plea and will impose the sentence after he has reviewed the pre-sentence report, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on May 5, 2017, law enforcement observed someone throw a brown bag from the window of a car. Officers collected the brown bag and located methamphetamine.
Officers pulled over the vehicle, in which Cook was the passenger. Cook confessed that he had thrown the bag of drugs out of the window when he saw the officer’s vehicle.
U.S. Attorney Beth Drake stated that the maximum penalty Cook could receive is 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $5,000,000.
The case was investigated by agents of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie Lea Schoen of the Greenville office prosecuted the case.