NEWBERRY, S.C.; June 2, 2025 – A Newberry man with a significant criminal history is headed to prison for 25 years after pleading guilty last Thursday to a charge of trafficking fentanyl, 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Monday.
Rondarius Rasheed Davis, 26, pleaded guilty this past Thursday on the week of his scheduled trial to one charge of trafficking fentanyl, 14-28 grams. Circuit Judge Charles McCutchen then handed down a 25-year prison sentence, the mandatory statutory sentence for the offense. The offense is considered violent under South Carolina law and Davis must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before he can be considered for parole.
The arrest for the trafficking fentanyl offense also triggered a probation violation for an aggravated assault and battery conviction stemming from a 2022 Newberry shooting incident with an uncooperative victim. Davis was sentenced by the circuit court to state prison in April of this year on the probation violation. He remained in the South Carolina Department of Corrections awaiting his scheduled trial on the fentanyl case which was slated to begin June 23.
In late December 2024, officers with Newberry Police Department contacted agents from the S.C. Department of Probation, Pardon, and Parole Services to locate Davis in order to serve him with multiple new arrest warrants resulting from a December 2024 gunfire exchange in the West End of Newberry. At the time Davis, who goes by the nickname “Hot Boy” on the streets, was wearing an active GPS ankle monitor as a condition of probation from the 2022 shooting incident. Investigators tracked Davis to Indian Hill Apartments, located along Drayton Street. After being taken into custody, a search of Davis’ person yielded a package containing about 17 grams of fentanyl.
Assistant Solicitor Bret West Price handled the case for the state with assistance from 8th Circuit Investigator Jeremiah Sinclair. Davis was represented by Ralph Wilson Jr. of Conway.
Solicitor Stumbo praised the work of his Newberry prosecution team, along with lead investigator from the Newberry Police Department, Lt. Scottie Peay, in securing the conviction and lengthy prison sentence.
“Our citizens in Newberry County will hopefully sleep more soundly tonight with a violent criminal like Rondarius Davis behind bars—where he belongs—for the foreseeable future,” Solicitor Stumbo said. “This conviction and 25-year sentence send a clear message: fentanyl dealers have no place in our communities. We are grateful to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our Newberry law enforcement officers to put this dangerous individual away.”