Earlier this week we ran an item on a pending S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into $300,000 worth of missing money at the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Department.
Now, why SLED would investigate $300,000 in missing cash at the local level – and not $4 million in missing cash at the state level – is a mystery to us, but whatever. Selective enforcement seems to be the name of the game under SLED chief Mark Keel, so it’s not surprising at all to us that he’s picking winners and losers when it comes to enforcing our state’s anti-corruption laws.
Anyway … in digging into this story further we’ve uncovered a February 2013 report in The (Greenwood, S.C.) Index Journal which references the SLED investigation and names former Sheriff’s office employee Sandi Owens (a.k.a. Sandi McAlister) as having been terminated from her position with the agency as of six months ago.
So … is there a connection between the investigation and Owens’ termination? Multiple sources in Greenwood say “yes,” although they have warned us to “tread carefully” in covering this particular probe.
How come? Because Owens has reportedly lawyered up and is preparing “the mother of all wrongful termination suits” against the county – which is one reason her name hasn’t been directly tied to the SLED probe in any media reports.
Interesting …
Still, our sources have described in detail inappropriate expenses allegedly initiated by Owens, including “a borderline bizarre amount of candy each month.” More substantively, SLED investigators are reportedly probing irregularities in the Greenwood Sheriff’s 9-1-1 surcharge fund and “seized funds” account.
We’re also told Greenwood County Sheriff Tony Davis is “neck deep” in these irregularities, and more specifically that he “removed protocols” protecting each of these accounts from misuse.
FITS has been on the leading edge of several Sheriff’s scandals in recent months. Back in January we reported on the pending indictment of Chesterfield County (S.C.) Sheriff Sam Parker as part of the state’s latest inmate labor scandal. We’ve also been chronicling every step of the video poker scandal that’s swirling around Lexington County, S.C. Sheriff Jimmy Metts.
Also, FITS will continue to gather information regarding this agency whether Owens or Davis like it or not. In fact being told to “tread carefully” only makes us want to dig deeper in an effort to uncover the truth.
28 comments
Wear cleated boots, and don’t tread – STOMP!
Wear cleated boots, and don’t tread – STOMP!
Word is Tony was hitting that ass. He has purged a lot of the “good” deputies that do not go along with his way of seeing things…..Try to find a few of the deputies that left since he became sheriff and they will tell you………..
The “brain drain” up here after Tony’s election was horrible! Most of the sharp folks who could leave, did. And quick. The few decent folks who stayed are only staying because they have ties to the county, not the sheriff. None of them are talking much though. The place is a shambles. This can be an evil town once the good old boys turn on you!
no way tony is hitting that…no way in hell he could get to it.
Word is Tony was hitting that ass. He has purged a lot of the “good” deputies that do not go along with his way of seeing things…..Try to find a few of the deputies that left since he became sheriff and they will tell you………..
The “brain drain” up here after Tony’s election was horrible! Most of the sharp folks who could leave, did. And quick. The few decent folks who stayed are only staying because they have ties to the county, not the sheriff. None of them are talking much though. The place is a shambles. This can be an evil town once the good old boys turn on you!
no way tony is hitting that…no way in hell he could get to it.
I had also heard that the reason she was allowed to get away with her spending habits was because those two had something going on tony and the candy lady.
I had also heard that the reason she was allowed to get away with her spending habits was because those two had something going on tony and the candy lady.
Ricky Chastain glad the heat is on someone else for a little while…
https://www.fitsnews.com/2013/03/07/laurens-sc-sheriff-facing-fraud-investigation/
Ricky Chastain glad the heat is on someone else for a little while…
https://www.fitsnews.com/2013/03/07/laurens-sc-sheriff-facing-fraud-investigation/
Nah….Tony ain’t tapping that! She was to busy buying her candy bars and pageant dresses for her girl with tax payer money to have time to “service” the high sheriff.
You’re right. People who don’t know about Tony’s history with her brother back in the day don’t understand. It ain’t about sex, it’s about knowing where the skeletons are buried. She (and her brother) know way too much for ol’ Tony to ever totally turn on her. This thing could get ugly! Some of the stories go all the way back to Tony’s old days there at the sheriffs office and involve his son who also may have put some problems on Tony after he was elected. We’ll see if SLED has the balls to dig into all of that.
Nah….Tony ain’t tapping that! She was to busy buying her candy bars and pageant dresses for her girl with tax payer money to have time to “service” the high sheriff.
You’re right. People who don’t know about Tony’s history with her brother back in the day don’t understand. It ain’t about sex, it’s about knowing where the skeletons are buried. She (and her brother) know way too much for ol’ Tony to ever totally turn on her. This thing could get ugly! Some of the stories go all the way back to Tony’s old days there at the sheriffs office and involve his son who also may have put some problems on Tony after he was elected. We’ll see if SLED has the balls to dig into all of that.
Why the hell can’t they get anything done in Cola ?
Why the hell can’t they get anything done in Cola ?
It’s really very common knowledge in law enforcement circles that the only reason that Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain is getting away with all that he has is that he and some VERY senior SLED employees are “dating” the same SLED employee on the side. If SLED were to investigate, then this would be one of the very first cards played, and Chastain is letting everybody know it.
Let’s see here. Chastain has ADMITTED to using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions for his in-house girlfriends, paying employees that do him personal favors whether they show up for work or not, looking the other way when employees pocket rather than turn in cash for serving legal documents, buying county vehicles at his family’s used car lot, and now, he’s even encouraging his employees to get rid of their personally owned vehicles and SOLELY drive their county vehicles, all at taxpayer expense.
I’m really surprised that Governor Haley is letting this go on, but, she’s really not that clean either.
justthefacts has it exactly right!!!
Ask any SLED employee, and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.
FINALLY.
Also, isn’t at least one of the SLED agents involved in this a female from Greenwood?
SLED, apparently, no better than these Sheriff’s offices are they would get rid of these type of employees.
I’ve never heard that Davis was thought of too highly by SLED, so maybe he won’t get the same cover that you guys say Ricky gets. If SLED even halfway tries to investigate missing drug money and misused 911 money, this one should be pretty freaking easy to solve. Even a state senator’s nephew straight out of the academy can figure this one out IF that’s what SLED wants to do. The money is either there, or it’s not.
It’s really very common knowledge in law enforcement circles that the only reason that Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain is getting away with all that he has is that he and some VERY senior SLED employees are “dating” the same SLED employee on the side. If SLED were to investigate, then this would be one of the very first cards played, and Chastain is letting everybody know it.
Let’s see here. Chastain has ADMITTED to using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions for his in-house girlfriends, paying employees that do him personal favors whether they show up for work or not, looking the other way when employees pocket rather than turn in cash for serving legal documents, buying county vehicles at his family’s used car lot, and now, he’s even encouraging his employees to get rid of their personally owned vehicles and SOLELY drive their county vehicles, all at taxpayer expense.
I’m really surprised that Governor Haley is letting this go on, but, she’s really not that clean either.
justthefacts has it exactly right!!!
Ask any SLED employee, and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.
FINALLY.
Also, isn’t at least one of the SLED agents involved in this a female from Greenwood?
SLED, apparently, no better than these Sheriff’s offices are they would get rid of these type of employees.
I’ve never heard that Davis was thought of too highly by SLED, so maybe he won’t get the same cover that you guys say Ricky gets. If SLED even halfway tries to investigate missing drug money and misused 911 money, this one should be pretty freaking easy to solve. Even a state senator’s nephew straight out of the academy can figure this one out IF that’s what SLED wants to do. The money is either there, or it’s not.