WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY MEN FACE LIFE IN PRISON FOR DRUGS

COLUMBIA, South Carolina ----- Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald stated that Eddie Lee Brunson, age 56, of Hemingway, and Don Cornelius Burgess, age 26, of Kingstree, pled guilty in federal court in Florence to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten accepted the pleas and will impose sentence at a later date. Both men face a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

Information presented during the guilty plea hearing established that Brunson and Burgess were part of a group that distributed crack in the Williamsburg County area. During 2005 and 2006, both Brunson and Burgess sold crack to a confidential informant on a number of occasions.

In November 2005, as investigators were attempting to initiate a traffic stop of Brunson’s car, he threw a bundle of crack and powder cocaine out of the car window. The investigators pursued the car and eventually apprehended Brunson, who was in possession of over $5,000 in cash.

In July 2006, Burgess was arrested in possession of over 24 grams of crack as he was attempting to sell drugs to a confidential informant.

The case was investigated by SLED, the Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office.