Ex-South Carolina sheriff to plead guilty to drug-related crimes and stealing from benevolence fund

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — A former South Carolina sheriff is expected to plead guilty Thursday to federal charges that he stole from his force’s benevolence fund and took pain medication that was supposed to be destroyed as part of a pill take-back program.

Former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright signed a plea agreement last month with federal prosecutors on charges of conspiring to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and conspiring to commit wire fraud and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation. He was appearing Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Anderson.

Wright will be at least the 12th sheriff in South Carolina to be convicted or to plead guilty to on-duty crimes in the past 15 years, for misconduct including extorting drug dealers, having inmates work at their homes, and hiring a woman and pressuring her to have sex.

Sheriffs run the law enforcement organizations in the state’s 46 counties. South Carolina law gives the elected officials wide latitude over how their money is spent, what crimes their agencies concentrate on stopping and who gets hired and fired. They also provide little oversight beyond a vote by the people of each county every four years.

Beyond abusing power, there is little in common among the convicted sheriffs. They’ve been in small rural agencies and big, urban ones. There was a scheme to create false police reports to help clients of a friend’s credit repair business. A sheriff took bribes to keep a restaurant owner’s employees from being deported. One covered up an illegal arrest. And another punched a woman in the face and stole her cellphone.

In Wright’s case, the former sheriff plundered the fund meant to help deputies who face financial difficulties, including once saying he needed cash to send an officer to Washington to honor a deputy killed in the line of duty. Instead the money went in his own pocket, federal prosecutors said.

Most of Wright’s crimes happened as he dealt with an addiction to painkillers. In addition to the drugs he took from the pill take-back program, Wright also used a blank check from the benevolence fund to pay for oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, writing it out to his dealer, according to court records.

Wright also faces more than 60 charges of ethics violations for using his county-issued credit card for personal expenses. In all, there was more than $50,000 in disputed spending, including more than $1,300 he allegedly spent at Apple’s app store and almost $1,600 he paid for Sirius/XM radio, according to court records.

Wright agreed to plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation.

The maximum penalty for all three counts combined is nearly 30 years, although Wright will likely receive a much lighter sentence. He also will have to pay at least $440,000 in restitution. A sentencing date has not been set.