Public court and law-enforcement records describe local and hybrid street gangs across the Midlands, from Columbia and Lexington to Newberry, Chester, Lancaster, York and Aiken counties. Only a few are named in public sources, including Paid Family, GPAN, the Cross Bridge Gangsters, the Roundtree Circle Gang and, by federal indictment, Dirty Money Entertainment. Most federal releases identify defendants as gang members without naming the group. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
Origins
On 2004-02-18, WIS reported that Richland County attributed five drive-by shootings to a three-way conflict among members of the Bloods, the Crips and a street gang called GPAN. [2]
A 2005-04-25 Free Times feature, reprinted by Police1, reported that the Richland County Sheriff's Department counted about 50 gangs, with names that included the locally named Cross Bridge Gangsters alongside national names. [3]
South Carolina enacted a gang statute on 2007-06-12. The Associated Press reported that the law gave the State Grand Jury power to investigate gang activity and created a statewide gang database. A York County defendant charged in a September 2007 rival-gang killing in York was among the first tried under it. [7][8]
Footprint in South Carolina
Richland, Lexington and Kershaw. USAO-SC reported a 2009 Columbia Violent Gangs Task Force investigation into street gang activity in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Columbia. In July 2018 the FBI-led task force opened an investigation into gang-related violence across Lexington, Richland and Kershaw counties that it tied to disputes over drug distribution territory. [9][6]
Newberry. USAO-SC reported a 2017-09-16 exchange of gunfire between rival gang members from Newberry outside the Empire Supper Club in the Columbia Vista. In a 2020-02-19 release, a Newberry defendant told sheriff's investigators that he carried a gun for protection from rival gang members in Newberry County. York. A Clover defendant sentenced on 2016-01-14 admitted to being a dues collector for a local gang. A Rock Hill defendant sentenced on 2018-12-17 was described by USAO-SC as a gang member at the time of a Rock Hill Police traffic stop. None of these four releases names the gang. [10][11][12][13]
Aiken. On 2018-10-05, the Aiken Standard reported that Aiken Department of Public Safety officers described gangs and hybrid gangs active in Aiken County. In July 2025, Aiken County Sheriff Marty Sawyer attributed the June 25, 2025 killing of a 10-year-old girl in Beech Island to retaliation for a Warrenville shooting, with raids carried out in Richmond, Aiken and Edgefield counties. [14][15]
Structure and organization
Federal releases describe Midlands crews by function, not by name. On 2021-09-02, USAO-SC stated that Daisean Montez Skeeters of Elgin led a local hybrid gang, and the court found on 2023-10-31 that Carlos Antonio Grooms, a/k/a B Lord, of Columbia, led a local criminal street gang and a drug organization in the Lexington and Columbia areas from 2020 to 2022. [16][17]
A 22-page federal indictment reported by WIS on 2025-10-29 alleges that Zachary Chapman founded and led Dirty Money Entertainment (DME), described as a street gang that operated out of Columbia and used several houses, including one in Blythewood. Chapman pleaded not guilty; the allegations are unproven. [5]
Notable South Carolina cases
Paid Family. On 2018-03-21, the Attorney General announced State Grand Jury indictments of 15 people in Lexington County and three in Richland County. The indictments allege that a gang called Paid Family brought marijuana into Lexington County, and the investigation began after a March 2017 shooting death at a Two Notch Road nightclub. [1]
Chester County. The Herald reported in 2017 that members of the Roundtree Circle Gang testified about a plot to rob a rival gang in the case of a Chester councilman's killing. A 2019-09-20 USAO-SC release described a Chester defendant as a validated member of a criminal street gang. On 2026-03-26, the Attorney General announced State Grand Jury murder and conspiracy indictments of Kylynn Jackson and Rajai Jones in the July 5, 2022 killing of Darius Minter, alleged as the culmination of retaliatory shootings between rival gangs. [4][18][19]
Lancaster County. Lancaster police stated that gangs were linked to 90% of several categories of violent and property cases in 2023. After the September 4, 2024 killing of Jelani Jackson on Clinton Avenue and a string of retaliatory shootings, the Sheriff's Office reported 16 arrests, including five juveniles, on 2025-01-03. On 2025-04-04, the Lancaster police chief described an April 2025 shootout inside the Walmart off Highway 9 as an altercation between two groups believed to be gang-affiliated. [20][21][22]
Cayce and Columbia. On 2024-01-10, Cayce Police announced seven arrests in a gang-related robbery shooting at the Abbott Arms Apartments on December 11, 2023. On 2025-12-11, USAO-SC reported the sentencing of Taylor Molic Morris of Columbia, whom the Midlands Gang Task Force had identified as a validated gang member, for a June 11, 2023 nightclub shooting on Broad River Road. [23][24]
Inside SCDC
Public sourcing on these crews inside state prisons is limited. The Attorney General's 2026-03-26 release states that Chester County defendant Rajai Jones was serving an SCDC sentence for voluntary manslaughter when he was indicted. USAO-SC reported that Grooms coordinated drug distributions over recorded jail phones while in federal custody. [19][17]
Current status
Public cases from 2025 and 2026 show continued prosecution of Midlands gang cases: a Kershaw County gang member was sentenced on 2025-02-20, the DME indictment was announced in October 2025, and the Chester County State Grand Jury indictments followed on 2026-03-26. None of these releases states a claim of national lineage for the local crews involved. [25][5][19]
