A Columbia man who had drugs smuggled to him with a U-Haul truck while he was locked up in the Lexington County Detention Center was sentenced to prison, the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said Thursday.

Ricky Rogers McField, 39, pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, conspiracy, and furnishing contraband into the Lexington County Detention Center, the solicitor’s office said in a news release.

McField was sentenced to 15 years for trafficking cocaine, 5 years for conspiracy, and 10 years for furnishing contraband into the jail, according to the release. The solicitor’s office did not respond to a question asking if the sentences are concurrent or consecutive.

On May 25, 2022, while McField was out on bond for various drug and weapons charges in Richland County, the South Carolina Highway Patrol conducted a license checkpoint on North Lake Drive in Lexington County, the solicitor’s office said. McField, whose license was under suspension, drove through the checkpoint and was arrested for driving under suspension, according to the release.

While taking McField into custody, law enforcement officers found a clear plastic baggie containing marijuana in his pants pocket, the solicitor’s office said. When he was being booked into the Lexington County Detention Center, officers found 21.5 grams of a white powdery substance consistent with cocaine; two small clear baggies with 5.9 grams of a crystal-like substance consistent with methamphetamine; two small clear baggies with 4.2 grams of a white rock-like substance consistent with crack cocaine; and one clear baggie with 42 dosage units of a white pill consistent with Xanax, according to the release.

While McFields was being held at the jail, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Enforcement Team discovered a plan by McField and another inmate to bring drugs and other contraband into the detention center, the solicitor’s office said.

Agents learned McField told a woman who was not incarcerated to get “green” (which is marijuana), “clear” (which is methamphetamine), and other contraband, according to the release.

The woman bought the drugs, packaged them in a black bag, then gave that bag to another person who drove in a U-Haul truck to the jail and tossed the black bag with the narcotics over the fence, the solicitor’s office said. Other inmates retrieved the bag and brought it to McField’s cell in the jail, according to the release.

Law enforcement authorities believe McField then distributed the drugs to other inmates, the solicitor’s office said.

Under South Carolina law, trafficking cocaine is classified as a violent, serious, and “no parole” offense. McField also pleaded guilty to various Richland County offenses involving illicit narcotics and weapons, according to the release.

McField has prior convictions for illicit narcotics, burglary, possession of burglary tools, and malicious injury to property, the solicitor’s office said.

After being sentenced by Judge Debra McCaslin, McField was taken to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to serve his prison sentence.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Solicitor Kelly Oppenheimer and investigated by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

McField was represented by attorney Jean Marie Popowski, Lexington County court records show.