Crips in South Carolina: the sets the public record names

The Crips are a Los Angeles-origin street gang whose South Carolina sets appear in court records and prosecutions from 2002 onward, with named sets in Columbia (Rollin 60s), North Charleston and Greenville (Rollin 20s) and Myrtle Beach (Rollin 90s). Federal and state cases from 2020 through 2026 have charged Crips members alongside Bloods and Gangster Disciples, and a 2019 Post and Courier investigation described the Crips as the first national gang to establish itself in South Carolina prisons. [1][2][3][4][5]

Key South Carolina cases

The largest Crips-specific federal case in the state's recent record is the Columbia Rollin 60s investigation. The FBI Columbia Violent Gang Task Force began investigating in July 2018, and on June 23, 2020 the U.S. Attorney announced 14 arrests across Lexington, Kershaw and Richland counties; FITSNews reported that Maurice Leach and Anthony Britt were described as Crips members and Reginald Furgess and Christopher Melton as either Crips or Gangster Disciples. [1]

Multi-gang federal operations have continued to name the Crips. A December 15, 2023 release on a West Columbia ATF operation that began in June 2022 stated that defendants included members of the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciple street gangs. On January 29, 2024 the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that a Myrtle Beach multi-agency operation targeting the Rollin 90s Crips, G-Shine Bloods and Gangster Disciples produced federal charges against 13 defendants. On May 22, 2025 FBI Columbia stated that 16 defendants arrested by the Lowcountry Violent Crime Task Force included members of the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciple street gangs. [6][3][7]

State prosecutions in 2026 named the Rolling 20s Crips in both the Lowcountry and the Upstate. On August 24, 2026 the South Carolina Attorney General announced State Grand Jury indictments of over 30 individuals in Operation Last Stand, focused on the greater Charleston area, with targets associated with the Rolling 20s Crips, Piru Bloods, 18th Street, Tren de Aragua and two Mexican cartels. On September 25, 2026 the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office announced that Kimron Keantea Lilly, 26, was sentenced to 27 years after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy for a July 16, 2021 shooting at a cookout in Conestee Park, Greenville; prosecutors said he conspired with other members of the Rolling 20s, described as a sect of the national Crips gang, to shoot at a Bloods cookout. [4][8]

Inside SCDC

The Post and Courier's December 2019 investigation reported that the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciples have steadily asserted their hold over the South Carolina inmate population, with the Crips the first to arrive. Corrections officials estimated that one of every ten prisoners was a validated gang member; a 2008 Department of Public Safety survey had identified some 1,100 gang members in South Carolina prisons, nearly five percent of the population, and a 2019 Legislative Audit Council report found that number had doubled over the decade. The article also reported that the Bloods and Crips maintain books of knowledge that lay out codes of conduct for members. [5]

The 2010 shooting of Lee Correctional Institution Capt. Robert Johnson is the most prominent documented Crips-linked act inside the state system. According to the Post and Courier, a Crip inmate ordered the hit in 2010 after Johnson's team seized a package of cellphones, chargers, marijuana and SIM cards, and used a cellphone and a Green Dot prepaid card to arrange Johnson's death for $6,000. Johnson was shot six times at his Sumter home on March 5, 2010 and survived; on August 14, 2014 The State reported that Sean Echols, 31, received 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to kill Johnson after receiving an initial $6,000 payment from plotters. In an April 2018 article after the Lee Correctional riot, the newspaper paraphrased Johnson as saying the Bloods and the Crips are the largest threats because they control much of the flow of contraband. [5][9][10]

Where it stands

As of 2026, Crips sets remain named targets in South Carolina enforcement at the federal, state and county levels. The 2024 Myrtle Beach federal case, the September 2024 Horry County sweep that produced 80 arrests including 40 gang members and 58 seized firearms, the May 2025 Lowcountry task force arrests, the August 2026 Operation Last Stand indictments and the September 2026 Greenville sentencing each named Crips or a Rollin set. Public records locate the named sets in Columbia and its surrounding counties, North Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. [3][11][7][4][8]

The full profile, with every source, the county records and a dated timeline, is on the group page.