Farm Bureau Insurance spreads holiday cheer

"The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in US history, and it was created and fueled by numerous companies. We've seen the lives lost and families ruined. That's why my office and attorneys general across the country have been working for years to hold these companies accountable and make them change the way they do business. This settlement and the changes these companies are making will mean more South Carolinians will be alive, healthy, and happy."

Attorney General Wilson

Farm Bureau Insurance agents and County Farm Bureau offices across South Carolina helped spread holiday cheer to those in their communities facing financial or medical hardships by donating more than $46,000 through Farm Bureau Cares.

The program was started in 2015 with the support of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. The insurance company matches donations made by each local office to assist a local charity or individual in need over the holidays. Each local office decides how to best put their Farm Bureau Cares donation to work in their community. With first-hand knowledge of personal situations and needs in their communities, agents and staff in the local offices have given generously to the program.

"As an insurance company, we are here when people need us most and the Farm Bureau Cares program is no exception," Lee Wilkins, vice president of sales, said.

While many Farm Bureau Insurance offices selected an individual or family to assist with their Farm Bureau Cares donations, other offices opted to support local charities. Charities that received a donation included: Cancer for Kids Fundraiser, Child Abuse Prevention Association, Clarendon Hall Meri Fund, Creative Church Food Ministry, Darlington Community Foundation, First Steps, Helping Hands, Hope in Lancaster, Hospice and Palliative Care of the Piedmont, Kershaw County Safe Kids Coalition, Kings Court Afterschool Program, Set Free Alliance, The Cooperative Ministry, The Samaritan House, Turbeville Children's Home, United Christian Ministries of Abbeville County, United Ministries of Clinton, Upstate Backpack Blessings, Winwood Farm for Boys, and the Women's Enrichment Center, along with many more.

"Farm Bureau Cares upholds our company's core values of supporting our members and communities," Wilkins said. "We are proud to support local charities and individuals in need across the state each year and would like to thank all of the offices that participated in 2022's Farm Bureau Cares holiday outreach program."

SC AG Alan Wilson announces participation in national settlements

Settlements with Teva, Allergan, CVS, and Walgreens worth potentially $242 million to South Carolina; brings S.C.'s potential total recoveries from opioid cases to more than $646 million

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson today announced that he has agreed to settlements with Teva, Allergan, CVS, and Walgreens for their roles in the opioid crisis. These companies have agreed to pay more than $17.3 billion to resolve claims nationally over the next 15 years. Assuming complete participation by its counties and eligible cities, South Carolina's share of the funds from these settlements is $242 million.

"The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in US history, and it was created and fueled by numerous companies," Attorney General Wilson said. "We've seen the lives lost and families ruined. That's why my office and attorneys general across the country have been working for years to hold these companies accountable and make them change the way they do business. This settlement and the changes these companies are making will mean more South Carolinians will be alive, healthy, and happy."

In addition to the monetary recovery, CVS and Walgreens, along with Walmart in a settlement that General Wilson announced last month, have agreed to injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. Teva and Allergan have agreed to a prohibition on promoting opioids, both directly and through third-party front groups, and engaging in opioid-related lobbying activities. The companies must also turn over millions of documents produced in litigation to the public. This injunctive relief will help ensure a crisis like this does not happen again.

Under the terms of these agreements, counties and eligible cities will now have an opportunity to review the terms and sign on during the first quarter of 2023. As in previous settlements with the three major opioid distributors and with Johnson & Johnson, nearly all of the settlement funds must be used to abate the opioid crisis. Abatement measures include education, prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services. With full participation by counties and eligible cities, South Carolina will have nearly $600 million in funds for opioid abatement over the next 15 years.

The payments are structured to ensure critical support in early years as well as sustained resources over time. CVS's payments will be spread over 10 years; Walgreens' payments will be spread over 15 years; Teva's payments will be spread over 13 years, and Allergan's payments will be spread over 7 years. If there is sufficient sign-on, payments will begin during the second half of 2023.

Serial Beaufort County burglar receives maximum sentence

BEAUFORT, SC (Dec. 19, 2022) - A Hilton Head Island man who burglarized more than a dozen area businesses has been convicted and sentenced to prison for 17 years.

Jerome Romeo Wing, 59, of William Drive pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree burglary and grand larceny for burglarizing five restaurants, two nail salons, two thrift stores, a car wash and an automotive repair shop. All the businesses were on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton.

Wing received the maximum penalty of 15 years for the burglary charge, which is considered a violent offense, and two years for the grand larceny charge. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

"Mr. Wing is someone who embraces anti-social tendencies and has a complete disregard for the law," said Mary Jordan Lempesis of the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office, who prosecuted the case. "Prison is exactly where he needs to be."

The most recent string of break-ins began in 2020 and ended in June 2022 when a restaurant's surveillance video showed Wing smashing a glass door of a greater Bluffton pizzeria. Once inside, Wing went straight for the cash register but was unable to open it. In his attempt to enter the eatery, Wing left behind blood on the rock and a jagged piece of glass still lodged in business's front door.

Wing's criminal history dates to 1986 and includes convictions and prison time for forgery, and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (1993) in which he received an eight-year sentence; two counts of second-degree burglary, for which he received eight years (2001); grand larceny, nine counts of forgery, possession of a stolen vehicle and breaking into a motor vehicle, for which he received five years (2001); second-degree burglary, for which he received eight years (2008); and second-degree burglary for which he received 10 years (2014).

Lempesis is the first assistant solicitor for the 14th Circuit Solicitor's office. She has been with the office 2009.

Defendants in Westbury Park murder, caught on victim's cameras, sent to prison

BEAUFORT, S.C. (Dec. 16, 2022) - The triggerman and mastermind of a botched armed robbery that left a Westbury Park resident dead in his home has been sent to prison.

A Beaufort County General Sessions Court on Friday found 28-year-old Devante Lamont White of Green Pond guilty of the 2020 murder of Timothy George Milliken. He also was convicted of kidnapping and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. The crimes were captured on Milliken's home security cameras.

White was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder, 30 for kidnapping and five for possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Three co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery and testified against White.

"To various degrees, the defendants in this case lived their lives as predators," said Trasi Campbell of the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office, who prosecuted the case. "Now they will live behind bars, and the community is a safer place as a result."

Milliken, a security software engineer, installed an extensive security-camera system in his home on Westbury's Kensington Boulevard. The cameras captured the crime nearly in its entirety.

Co-defendant Sarah Faye Barr of Summerville, who was 17 at the time of Milliken's murder, had been to the computer engineer's Westbury Park home at least once before, for a sexual liaison arranged by White. She rode to Milliken's home on Nov. 16, with White and the other defendants - Jamal Hassan Coakley Jr. of Dale and Malik Deon White of Seabrook, both 24. They planned to rob Milliken.

White pulled over the car about a half mile away from Milliken's home, gave Coakley a handgun and told him and Malik White to get in the trunk.

Milliken met the party at Westbury Park's security gate to help them enter the community. Arriving in his driveway, Milliken exited the vehicle. Devante White got out as well. He then opened the trunk, allowing Coakley and Malik White to spring out. Devante White told Milliken he was under arrest for soliciting a prostitute.

As Coakley pointed a gun at Milliken and Devante White held him from behind by the arms, all five people walked along a driveway to the back of Milliken's house. Milliken initially refused to let them inside his home. Devante White ordered Coakley to shoot Milliken, but Coakley refused. Malik White took the gun from Jamal Coakley and handed it to Devante White, who then struck Milliken over the head with it, causing the gun to discharge.

After Devante White threatened to kill Milliken's family members, Milliken opened a rear door into his laundry room, as if to let his assailants in. However, he then tried to close the door behind him and keep them out. His attempt did not work, however - Devante White shot him in the leg, the bullet severing his femoral artery.

The assailants fled left without taking anything.

Milliken bled to death on the floor of his laundry room with his dog, Millie, at his side. He was otherwise alone in the house, and he was discovered shortly after the shooting by neighbors who called 9-1-1 when they heard the gunfire.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office tracked the defendants to the Atlanta area, where they were apprehended by the Gwinnett County Police Department less than 24 hours later. The three men attempted to run away but were quickly apprehended by the Gwinnett police.

The S.C. State Law Enforcement Division also assisted in the investigation.

Campbell called 23 witnesses during three days of testimony at the Beaufort County Courthouse in Devante White's trial.

Circuit Court Judge Brooks Goldsmith handed down the sentences.

Malik White, who is not related to Devante White, and Barr pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery. White, who has a previous conviction for third-degree burglary and failure to stop for a blue light, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Barr, who had no previous record, received a 10-year sentence, suspended to five years, plus five years of probation.

Jamal Hassan Coakley Jr. of Dale, 24, also pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery earlier this year. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Campbell is a member of the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit's most violent and habitual offenders. The team has earned convictions against 431 of the 466 defendants it has prosecuted since its formation in late 2009.

Deadline to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is Dec. 28

The DUA program makes funds available to assist people who became unemployed as a direct result of

Hurricane Ian, which occurred on September 25, 2022. It is also available to small business owners and

the self-employed, including 1099 contract workers, who have lost personal income due to the disaster.

If you live in Charleston, Georgetown, or Horry county and lost work or were unemployed as a direct result

of Hurricane Ian, then please go to the MyBenefits Portal in order to apply for DUA. You can also visit

dew.sc.gov and click the MyBenefits Login in the first circle of the homepage to apply through the

unemployment insurance benefits system. For help, please call 1-866-831-1724.

"Yet again, our agency was able to respond quickly when emergency benefits were needed," said

Executive Director Dan Ellzey. "As soon the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) identified

individuals living in Charleston, Georgetown, and Horry counties as potentially eligible for DUA funds, our

agency was ready with the link and the application. Our agency has just received the money from FEMA

in order to pay any eligible claimants, and we are processing those claims now."

Please note that any DUA applications filed after the deadline will be considered untimely and benefits

may be denied. Applicants will be asked to submit information about their employment and other

documentation to support the claim that they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred.

Workers or business owners in the eligible counties who meet the following criteria may be eligible to

receive a minimum of $134.00 and up to a maximum of $326.00 per week in DUA benefits:

* Individuals who are unemployed due to the disaster, and do not qualify for regular unemployment

insurance benefits.

* Self-employed individuals and small business owners who lost income due to the disaster.

* Individuals who were prevented from working due to an injury caused by the disaster.

* Individuals who have become the major supplier of household income due to the disaster-related

death or injury of the previous major supplier of household income.

* Individuals who are unable to reach their job or self-employment location because they must

travel through the affected area and are prevented from doing so by the disaster.

* Individuals who were to commence employment or self-employment but were prevented by the

disaster.

"The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in US history, and it was created and fueled by numerous companies. We've seen the lives lost and families ruined. That's why my office and attorneys general across the country have been working for years to hold these companies accountable and make them change the way they do business. This settlement and the changes these companies are making will mean more South Carolinians will be alive, healthy, and happy."

Attorney General Wilson