SLED receives complaint after inmates help load stockpile of guns

Image 1 of 4

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) says they've received a complaint regarding the use of inmates to load property seized during a major bust in Chesterfield County.

This stems from the October 24th bust in Pageland where between 7,000 to 10,000 guns were discovered.

A group of no more than 10 inmates from the Chesterfield County Detention Center were used to load property from that bust into trucks, according to SLED.

Fox 46 is told agents have been overseeing the inmates during the process, but that county officials are working to determine if the use of inmate labor was acceptable.

The detention center staff has sent a letter about this to the attorney general.

Thousands of guns were seized Saturday, October 24, by law enforcement in South Carolina after a routine traffic stop lead to the discovery of a massive stockpile of weapons.

Chesterfield County investigators tell Fox 46 News deputies initially pulled over Brent Nicholsan earlier that week for a traffic violation. They began an investigation after finding 60 guns in his car.

An investigation revealed Nicholson allegedly kept stockpiles of weapons at three different properties. Authorities are still counting the guns but estimated between seven and ten thousand weapons were recovered. Most of the guns are believed to have been stolen.

Chesterfield County Sheriff Jay Brooks says his deputies and state agents will spend days cataloging the weapons. By Saturday afternoon, officials had filled an entire tractor-trailer with recovered weapons.