BAMBERG -- Officials won't say how they located two people charged in a murder-for-hire scheme but say it was a good bit of police work that led them to a gas station near Augusta.

John Allen Corson, 53, and Shonda Shawn Harbert, 35, both of Bamberg, were apprehended Wednesday morning after the U.S. Marshal's Office contacted the Columbia County (Ga.) Sheriff's Office, telling them that the two could be found at one of two exits on Interstate 20.

"They were in a tractor-trailer at the Pilot station and he was apprehended as he was exiting his trailer," said Capt. Steve Morris of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

"I'm not sure how long they had been there at the time of their apprehension," Morris said. But he said the pair were residing in the sleeper part of the trailer.

The pair failed to show up in court in May to face charges ranging from possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine to discussing having a Lexington County man killed for $5,000. After their arrest last week, they were transported back to the Bamberg County jail, where they will remain until their trial, Bamberg County Sheriff Ed Darnell said.

Darnell would not reveal how the two were located, saying, "I can't divulge too much on that." He did credit State Law Enforcement Division Senior Agent George Darnell with providing the information leading to the arrest.

The two will face no new charges related to not appearing in General Sessions Court in May, Darnell said.

The charges against the pair stem from incidents beginning on Aug. 25 of last year, when police say Corson and Harbert discussed arranging to have a Lexington man killed for $5,000. Both were charged with solicitation to commit a felony as the result of an undercover investigation by SLED, according to an affidavit accompanying the warrant.

The affidavit blacks out the name of the person they allegedly discussed the killing with, along with the name of the suspected victim.

The two have also been charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine within proximity of a school. According to an affidavit from the Bamberg County Investigator T. Ben Hay, at about 8 p.m. Sept. 14, 2005, the two possessed "a large amount of crack cocaine" in several different areas of Corson's room at the Relax Inn in Bamberg. Corson had been staying at the motel since his home burned.

The cocaine was discovered by members of the Bamberg County Sheriff's Task Force, who were serving a felony warrant, as they were securing the room. Sheriff Darnell said he does not know the exact amount of crack cocaine the pair allegedly had.

The motel is a half-mile from Richard Carroll Elementary School.

The two were also charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and with unlawful conduct toward a child.

The charges of unlawful conduct toward a child stem from the allegation that the pair rented a motel room in the Relax Inn for a teenager who resided in a room without adult supervision. An affidavit alleges the pair allowed the teenager to be in the presence of unlawful drugs.

T&D City Editor Gene Crider can be reached at gcrider@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5570. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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