South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced six people were indicted and another 48 people detained on immigration charges after a raid at a plant in Abbeville.
The investigation, dubbed "Ghost Story," began in fall 2024 with cooperation from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Greenwood Sherrif's Department, among other agencies.
A raid was conducted June 4 at Von Seelen Precision Casting in Abbeville. The factory works on precision metal castings.
Christopher Douglas Ramey and Sandy Lynn Willis, two managers, were arrested at the scene on State Grand Jury charges the day of the probe. Charges include criminal conspiracy, identity fraud to obtain employment and forgery of more than $10,000.
The state alleged that the pair "violated their legal obligation to verify the legitimacy of IDs before hiring employees" and "facilitated the use of forged identity documents by illegal immigrants at the business." Four other defendants in the indictment allegedly obtained forged state driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and other fake identification for people who immigrated illegally to use.
The fake identity cards included the actual dates of birth and Social Security numbers of United States citizens.
Law enforcement officials said 48 employees were detained by ICE at the time of the raid. The immigrants were confirmed to at minimum be from Mexico and Guatemala.
Wilson said the investigation was about going after people who broke the law, not people just trying to make ends meet.
"This isn't about going after people who are trying to feed their family. This isn't going after companies and businesses who unknowingly hire an illegal," he said. "This is about going about something much larger, you know, a conspiracy of people around South Carolina to steal identities, to create fake social security cards, fake driver's licenses, fake immigration documents."
Eighth Circuit Court Solicitor David Stumbo, who spoke at the Thursday morning press conference, said the investigation showcased how multi-agency operations should operate.
"This is how law enforcement — multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency — investigations are supposed to work," he said.
Chief Attorney of the State Grand Jury Creighton Waters said he was approached by frustrated SLED agents who did not feel as though they had the support to carry out an operation against forged documents. Wilson said that was a result of the former President Joe Biden's administrative priorities.
Forty-four law enforcement agencies throughout the state have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE. The agreement gives local officers federal immigration officer powers they would not have otherwise.
