The Sheriff’s Office could get a piece of $1 million in items seized in an Orangeburg drug sting.

A jury found Sigmund James, Tommy Lott, Alcindo Matthews, Sheree Peoples, and Anthony Sellers, all of Orangeburg, guilty Tuesday afternoon in Federal Court in Columbia according to U.S. Attorney Walter Wilkins.

James, Lott and Sellers were convicted of conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, a violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. The three were also convicted on various other drug and gun charges related to their participation in the conspiracy, according to Wilkins.

In connection with the drug conspiracy, co-defendants Matthews and Peoples were convicted, along with James, of conspiring to launder James’ drug proceeds, a violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1956(h).

In total, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all 27 counts of the indictment.

United States District Judge Margaret B. Seymour presided over the trial and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence reports which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

According to the evidence at trial, the investigation of these individuals began in May of 2007, when South Carolina Highway Patrol Troopers stopped James in Orangeburg and found him to be in possession of over $8,000 cash.

Suspecting the money to be drug proceeds, agents of the federal Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, comprised of federal, state, and local agencies, initiated a two-year investigations that has to date resulted in four South Carolina indictments and the successful prosecution of over 50 people in Richland and Orangeburg counties and additional prosecutions in Corus Christi, Texas.

Testimony revealed that agents had wiretaps on phones used by various members of the conspiracy, including James. Members of the jury heard numerous recorded conversations between James and others, including his codefendants, in which they discussed the purchase and sale of large quantities of cocaine.

James was also recorded discussing and directing the movement of his drug proceeds. Over the course of the investigation, agents seized over 25 kilograms of cocaine and over $1 million in drug proceeds and assets.

The investigation was the result of a cooperation between the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm, and Explosives (ATF), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Highway Patrol, the Richland County, Lexington County, the Newberry County sheriff’s offices, and the City of Columbia Police Department.

With the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office being a part of the taskforce, they will get a portion of the seized assets.

The assets will be allocated on the amount of work each agency provided to the investigation, according to Sheriff Lee Foster.

Wilkins stated that as a result of their convictions, James, Sellers, and Lott face potential life sentences; Matthews and Peoples face up to 20 years in prison for their role in money laundering.