Cops charged Hilton Head man with drug trafficking 2 years ago. He’s free. What changed?
More than two years after his arrests on drug trafficking and felony gun charges, a Hilton Head Island man has been sentenced to probation, not years in prison, as might have been expected.
Last week, a judge sentenced Tyler Justin Wimbush, 27, of Hilton Head Island to two years of probation on five counts, court records show, some of which were reduced from the original charges.
In 2018, Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies said they found Wimbush with 10 baggies of cocaine and charged him with drug trafficking. It’s a felony offense in South Carolina that applies when a person is found with at least 10 grams of cocaine.
Deputies used a field scale to measure the baggies when he was arrested and said Wimbush had 13.2 grams, according to a report.
They also said they found a gun at his feet. Because Wimbush was being accused of drug trafficking, considered a violent crime, his gun charge was elevated to a felony: possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime.
Lastly, the deputies said Wimbush had a “blueish pill” in his pants pocket, later determined to be meth. He was charged with possession.
Altogether, convictions would have resulted in at least three years in prison but no more than 18.
The Island Packet originally reported the July 2018 drug arrest. Here’s what’s happened since:
As is custom, the cocaine evidence was sent to a lab to analyze, according to Melissa Duque, Wimbush’s public defender.
The Sheriff’s Office’s lab found that the actual weight of the drugs was 5.4 grams less than the first measurement, Sheriff’s officials said.
In the field, the drugs were measured in their bags.
In the lab, they were not.
That difference meant that the charges Wimbush was indicted on were reduced to possession with intent to distribute, still a felony, and unlawful carrying of a pistol, a misdemeanor.
His possession of meth charge remained the same.
Jim Brown, a defense attorney based in Beaufort, said the discrepancy in drug weight happens a lot.
“There’s no good way to get an accurate weight on the street,” he said.
Bob Bromage, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said drugs need to be measured in bags in the field to maintain the integrity of the evidence.
If the lab results show a discrepancy that affects the severity of a charge, it is reduced, as happened in this case when it went to the grand jury, Bromage said.
Wimbush, while out on bond in 2019, was pulled over again in a traffic stop by a Sheriff’s deputy on U.S. 278 in Bluffton, according to a news release. The deputy used a K9 to search his car, and he said “distribution weights of cocaine and crack cocaine were found,” along with a loaded handgun.
He was charged again with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and unlawful carrying of a pistol, court records show, in addition to providing false information to law enforcement and simple possession of marijuana.
Wimbush pleaded guilty to five counts total from the 2018 and 2019 charges and was sentenced on Jan. 27, 2021.
The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office recommended two years of probation for all charges, spokesperson Jeff Kidd said. “The recommendation we made is the appropriate sentence for somebody for that charge and criminal history,” he said.
If Wimbush violates probation, he will serve 10 years in prison, Kidd said.
This story has been updated with details of the process and to reflect that the cocaine in the 2018 case was re-weighed before the grand jury’s indictment.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 11:15 AM.
