SC Troopers under SLED investigation following $110K seizure
SUMTER COUNTY, SC (WJZY) — South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators are working to figure out what happened the night in July when the Highway Patrol stopped John Rodreigo Holliday at a roadblock in Sumter County and seized $110,428 from him.
Holliday pulled up to the blockade on Pearson Road and ended up in the back of a patrol car and hauled off to jail.
South …
Read More
Troopers reported finding a distribution amount of marijuana edibles in Holliday’s car, which led to a search. Holliday’s arrest warrant shows Troopers found a “large package” of individually wrapped edibles “resembling candy” in Holliday’s front passenger seat. The search revealed $110,428 in cash inside his car, according to court documents.
Troopers charged Holliday with manufacturing or possessing drugs with intent to distribute and driving under the influence. Holliday has two prior convictions on this exact drug charge, the patrol wrote in his arrest warrant.
ADVERTISING
Holliday was booked into the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center on July 29, 2021.
The patrol seized Holliday’s cash and placed it in at least two evidence bags, sources with knowledge of the SLED investigation tell FOX 46 Chief Investigator Jody Barr. SCHP policy requires Troopers to perform multiple counts of seized currency, but the Troopers involved in the stop counted the money fewer times than the policy requires, sources tell Barr.
On August 10, FOX 46 filed a Freedom of Information Act request with SCDP to access dash camera recordings from three Troopers involved in the stop and evidence collection: Corporal James “Cam” Welsh, Trooper William Baker, and Trooper Matt Nix.
Welsh and Baker are assigned to Troop 1, which covers Sumter, Clarendon, Kershaw, Richland, Lexington and Lee Counties. Nix works as an evidence technician out of the patrol’s Central Evidence Facility in Columbia and met with Welsh to collect evidence seized in the arrest, which is standard procedure for large currency seizures within the patrol.
SCDPS would not turn over dash camera recordings from Welsh and Baker, citing an exemption in the state’s FOIA law that blocks the release of video involved in an active criminal investigation.
“The video of the arrest involving John R. Holliday is part of an active SLED investigation and will not be released at this time,” SCDPS’s FOIA Manager, Courtney S. Wiles wrote to FOX46 in an August 18 email. The exemption applied only to Welsh and Baker’s recordings.
South Carolina Highway Patrol Corporal James Cameron Welsh (center) was awarded SCHP Troop 1’s Trooper of the Year in this April 3, 2019 photograph. Welsh is flanked by South Carolina Highway …
Read More
The patrol said there were no recordings produced by Nix’s dash camera.
The patrol suspended Welsh and Nix on August 3 – without pay – “for an alleged violation of department policy,” SCDPS Spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli told FOX46.
Although Baker was on scene during the stop, he was not suspended “as a result of the investigation,” and remains in good standing with the patrol, according to Iacobelli. Baker’s dash camera video recording, however, is part of SLED’s investigation into Welsh and Nix, SCDPS confirmed.
“SCDPS requested that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigate the matter and will conduct an internal investigation through the SCDPS Office of Professional Responsibility upon completion of SLED’s investigation,” Iacobelli wrote in an August 27 email to FOX46.
Trooper James “Cam” Welsh was named the South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper of the Year in 2016. Welsh, (holding …
Read More
SLED has already administered polygraph examinations during the course of its investigation, sources confirmed to Barr.
We spoke with Holliday by phone on August 11 to find out whether the patrol had contacted him about the investigation into the troopers. Holliday said he had not been contacted and did not know anything about what happened to his money after the patrol seized it. Holliday referred us to his attorney, Ceth Land.
Land, an attorney based in Manning, said at the time he also had not heard about the situation within the patrol regarding the traffic stop.
In an August 18 response to FOX46, SCDPS also declined to release any of the chain of custody records or evidence logs related to the Holliday case. The only records the SCDPS agreed to release was the incident report and dispatch records, however, as of this report the agency had not made those records public.
We also sought copies of the Troopers’ staff photographs, but the SCDPS has not produced those records.
FOX46 messaged Welsh seeking comment for this report on August 27. The message has not yet been returned.
South Carolina Highway Patrol Corporal James “Cam” Welsh reported to the Post A office located at 520 South Pike East in Sumter, SC. Welsh was the shift supervisor for Sumter and Clarendon …
Read More
Welsh joined the patrol in 2014 and Nix, a 16-year veteran of the patrol, joined the force on July 8, 2005.
Welsh has climbed the ranks of the patrol in his seven years. He was awarded the SCHP Trooper of the Year in 2016, was named Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s South Carolina branch’s “Drug Recognition Expert of the Year” in March 2019. The patrol crowned Welsh the Troop 1 Trooper of the Year in 2019 and on May 2, 2020 the patrol promoted Welsh to the rank of corporal.
SCDPS did not give a timeframe for when the agency expects SLED to finish its investigation.
Additional Reading:
Asset Forfeiture is Theft: An Overview of the State and Federal Programs | DOJ Announces New Rules for Civil Asset Forfeiture | Behind-the-scenes strife led to CEO Stumpf forfeiting $41 million | Taken | Mooresville Police Face Legal Fight Over Cash Seized From Suspects | Quantum Computing Colocation: Emerging Legal Frameworks & IP Considerations | Global e-Waste Laws and Data Center Equipment Disposal | Compliance with International Standards (ISO, PCI DSS, FedRAMP): Boosting Data Center Credibility | Michigan Enacts Civil Asset Forfeiture Reforms | Tackling Data Center Water Conservation | Due Diligence in Data Center Transactions: A Checklist for Success | A dysfunctional civil-forfeiture system seizes savings, destroys lives | Why Asset Forfeiture Is a High-Stakes Legal Battle | Institute for Justice’s Scott Bullock Discusses Civil-Asset Forfeiture Abuse | Police agencies forfeit millions after new law chokes off funds from asset seizures | Serverless in Data Centers: Contractual, Security, and Scalability Considerations | What Every California Property Owner Should Know About Forfeiture | End Civil Forfeiture of assets Without A Court Order | SLA Best Practices: Negotiations for Uptime, Redundancy, and Tenant Protections | Creating Redundant Power and Network Infrastructure in Modern Data Centers | How Property Owners Can Build a Strong Legal Defense | The Complex Link Between Civil Forfeiture an…
You might be interested in:
A Comparison of Federal Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Procedures: Which Provides More Protections for Property Owners? | Civil Forfeiture Laws Raise Questions on Policing for Profit | How the government can steal your stuff: 6 questions about civil asset forfeiture answered | JUSTICE MANUAL 9-113.000 – Forfeiture Settlements | Digital Tyranny: Beware of the Government’s Push for a Digital Currency | Life, Liberty, and Property: Civil Forfeiture in New Hampshire with John Stossel | What to Do If Your Bank Account Is Frozen by the DEA | Car Seizure Defense – Rucci Law | The Role of Federal Task Forces in Asset Forfeiture | USA Today: Tenant From Hell | Institute for Justice’s Scott Bullock Discusses Civil-Asset Forfeiture Abuse | Lawless Law Enforcement: Asset Forfeiture Fuels Police Spending | Feds charge 21 people in global crypto money laundering bust | Real Estate Forfeiture Attorney – Rucci Law | Police Seizure Attorney Los Angeles – Rucci Law | Police Officer Arrested On Civil Asset Forfeiture Confusion | Condo board looks to evict buyer of heavily discounted 1MDB penthouse | Court Blocks Unconstitutional Government Seizure of Mongols Motorcycle Club Trademark | HB19: Reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture | Warrant of arrest issued against seized funds from Bank of Saipan | Civil Asset Forfeiture: Overdue Reforms | Clark Neily Discusses Civil Asset Forfeiture Policy | Analysis of Supreme Court Case over Civil Forfeiture | Civil Asset Forfeiture in Texas Is Creating An Unlikely Alliance (HBO)
