Criminal Defense Lawyer in Georgetown, SC

GEORGETOWN, SC (WMBF) - The Georgetown City Council has approved the first reading of an ordinance placing a moratorium on re-zoning for 180 days.

Mayor Jay Doyle told WMBF that he proposed the ordinance because he believes the city’s Unified Development Ordinance, which the previous city council approved in December 2025, was developed too quickly and has flaws.

“I didn’t feel our current zoning laws were done properly. They were done hastily,” Doyle said.

Doyle said the moratorium would give council and city staff time to review and change the Unified Development Ordinance, and previously wrote that if the moratorium passes, he hopes the city will create a new comprehensive plan and conduct several infrastructure assessments before it is lifted.

The council voted 4-3 on the ordinance’s first reading.

Councilman Bruce Carl raised concerns during the meeting about the message the ordinance would send to entrepreneurs and businesses interested in Georgetown, as well as the costs involved with developing new plans.

“People who have come in and may already have invested some money, now are sitting with holding costs and can’t move forward with certain processes, that’s one concern of mine,” Carl told WMBF. “The second is, I think it shows to the people that we’re not really moving forward.”

Georgetown resident Billy Weaver said rezoning has brought many changes and he hopes the Georgetown area stays the way it is.

“People have land and farms and things out here, where they can plant a garden, but then you get the developers coming in, and they want to push it and take it away from the older generations,” Weaver said.

Nat Kaminski said while he does think rezoning needs regulation, new development could bring good things to the city as it continues to grow.

“It does have to be regulated and controlled, so, I feel good about it. I think they’re doing some good things,” Kaminski said. “I think there’s gonna some big changes, great deal of development coming to Georgetown, which it probably should have. It’s a place that people want to live.”

The re-zoning moratorium will need to pass a second reading to be put in place.

Doyle says a second reading is planned for the city council meeting in February.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WMBF. For more free content like this, Have feedback that can help us improve?

GEORGETOWN, SC (WMBF) - A Georgetown man faces charges after allegedly making violent phone calls to airports and flight schools across South Carolina.

Ahmad Z’yiem Guilford, 21 years old, was charged with making interstate threats and making false statements to a federal agent, according to the office of the US Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

Officials say that around November 2025, several local law enforcement authorities began receiving complaints from flight schools and aviation businesses at airports in Charleston, Georgetown, and Florence.

According to complainants, a caller was using different phone numbers to make violent and graphic threats to both the airports and individuals who answered the calls.

Several recorded calls were provided to the authorities that documented the threats.

On Nov. 14, 2025, the caller said he was going to rape a female employee of a Charleston area flight school who answered his phone call, threatened to “shoot up” the Charleston and Georgetown airports, and taunted authorities, stating, “you can’t find me!”

On Dec. 18, 2025, the same individual called a business at the Florence airport and said he was going to “shoot that *** up.” He said, “y’all can’t find me … because I’m making different numbers…”

He further said, “I’m never going to stop doing that ***. I’m going to flood y’alls ***. Watch.”

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force identified the caller as Guilford and said he was using websites to generate fictitious cell phone numbers that were used when making the threatening phone calls.

On Dec. 23, 2025, officials went to Guilford’s house to interview him.

According to the complaint, Guilford admitted to having an issue with the noise created by airplanes flying over his home and said he traveled to the Georgetown airport and revved his engine in retaliation for the noise, but he denied making the threatening phone calls.

Investigators say they recognized that his voice and speech patterns appeared to match the recorded calls, and he admitted that it sounded like his voice on the phone.

Guilford appeared in federal court in Florence on Tuesday and is being held pending further proceedings.

A detention hearing has been set for Jan. 23 at 10:30 a.m.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WMBF. For more free content like this, Have feedback that can help us improve?

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCIV) — A Georgetown man has been taken into custody after allegedly threatening to "shoot up" multiple South Carolina airports potentially in connection to his reported annoyance with the noise generated by planes flying over his residence.

21-year-old Ahmad Z'yiem Guilford is charged with making interstate threats and making false statements to a federal agent, according to the US Attorney for the District of South Carolina's office.

Officials said that local law enforcement agencies began receiving complaints from flight schools and aviation businesses located at the airports in Charleston, Georgetown, and Florence stating a caller was using different phone numbers to make "violent and graphic threats" to the airports themselves and the people who answered the phone.

Several recorded calls were provided to authorities. In one from around Nov. 14, 2025, the caller said he was going to rape the female employee of a flight school near Charleston who answered his call and threatened to "shoot up" the airports in Charleston and Georgetown. Around Dec. 18, another recorded call revealed the caller threatening a business at the Florence airport, saying he would "shoot that **** up." He also repeatedly taunted authorities, the district attorney's office said, with phrases captured on the recorded calls including "y'all can't find me... because I'm making different numbers."

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force joined the investigation and determined the calls were all coming from the same person, who they believed to be Guilford after finding out that he was using websites to generate the fictitious phone numbers used in the making of the threatening calls, according to the district attorney's office. Agents went to Guildford's house near the Georgetown airport and interviewed him, during which he disclosed that he had "an issue" with the noise created by airplanes flying over his home and went as far as driving to the airport and revving his engine "in retaliation for the noise," officials said. He reportedly denied making the threatening calls, but agents recognized his voice from the recordings and he admitted that it sounded like his voice on the phone, officials said.

Guilford was taken into custody and made his initial appearance in federal court in Florence on Jan. 20. He remains detained pending further proceedings, according to the district attorney's office, and a detention hearing has been set for Jan. 23 at 10:30 a.m.

If convicted, Guilford could face up to five years in federal prison for each violation.

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WPDE) — Georgetown's newly elected Mayor Jay Doyle, the first third-party nominee to win a partisan election in South Carolina since 1894, has outlined his ambitious plans for his first term.

Doyle, who ran as a candidate of the Forward Party, aims to address several pressing issues in the city, including job losses, rising prices, and the needs of the working class.

"It's very exciting, something I never thought would happen...and all of a sudden I get the urge to run and here I am," Doyle said.

Sworn into office at the beginning of January, Doyle is focusing on his first 100 days in office, with a priority on redoing the comprehensive plan and modifying the unified development ordinance.

"I like to get working on redoing the comprehensive plan. Work on, redoing or modifying the unified development ordinance, and just start getting people interested in bringing businesses here," he said.

Doyle also emphasized the importance of addressing resiliency and flooding, noting that the land use map needs significant work.

Another key priority for Doyle is reducing utility bills for residents, as he highlighted the challenge posed by the city's median income of $31,000.

"The biggest problem the city has is that the median income is only $31,000. So you can't even build affordable housing for people with that low income. So we got to bring more business, more wealth back into the city," Doyle said.

Doyle is also committed to bringing more jobs to the area, particularly in light of the paper mill closure.

"There are organizations out there. One of the colleges has a program to help. I've reached out to them, and we'll be meeting with them this week. That's one way. I've had private citizens reach out to me and, you know, come up with ideas. We're meeting with them one person tomorrow," he said.

In addition to these initiatives, Doyle has proposed a rezoning moratorium for discussion at the next city council meeting, which would prevent developers from constructing buildings taller than current zoning laws allow.

The city council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15.

Liberty River LLC wants to acquire the property with the intention of redeveloping it for light, clean manufacturing, commercial and retail, multifamily residential and park and greenspace.

Warren Waters is the managing member of Liberty River, LLC. Waters is associated with River Development Equities, a New Jersey-based company focused on redeveloping industrial sites, according to the company’s website.

Liberty River LLC submitted a voluntary cleanup contract to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services for the 66-acre site at 1227 Front St.

The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services said it uses these contracts to encourage the productive use of “Brownfield properties,” which typically refers to properties that have been previously used and may face challenges in redevelopment due to actual or suspected environmental contamination.

SCDES would let Liberty River LLC acquire the property under this category because of the potential for environmental pollution from past activity on the property.

According to SCDES, the property was initially developed as a rice plantation in 1710.

After the plantation was dissolved at the end of the Civil War, the property was used for a variety of purposes, including a sawmill, chemical works and an oil company.

In the modern day, the property is mostly known as the Georgetown Liberty Steel Mill, which was constructed in the late 1960s to early 1970s.

Crews began demolition on the mill in May 2025, months after it permanently closed.

SCDES said under the proposed voluntary cleanup contract, it will not hold Liberty responsible for pre-existing pollution in exchange for doing work under the contract.

That includes Liberty testing soil, groundwater and soil vapor on the property.

“If significant contamination is found, Liberty will be required to take steps to protect human health and the environment,” SCDES said. “Liberty did not create the pollution, but will control it to keep the property safe for reuse.”

SCDES issued a public notice on the proposed voluntary cleanup contract.

Anyone with comments on the proposal can email Nicholas Hammond at nicholas.hammond@des.sc.gov or call 803-898-0736 through Feb. 6.

The contract can be viewed below.

Company expresses interest in former Georgetown Liberty Steel Mill property by dylan.leatherwood

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WMBF. For more free content like this, Have feedback that can help us improve?