VETERAN LAWMAN GETS JAIL TIME ON CORRUPTION CHARGE
|| By FITSNEWS || A federal judge has sentenced disgraced South Carolina sheriff James Metts to one year in jail for his role in a corruption scandal – despite the best efforts of prosecutors to cut the veteran lawman a sweetheart plea deal.
Now Metts runs the risk of becoming someone’s sweetheart … behind bars.
U.S. district court judge Terry Wooten sentenced the longtime Lexington County sheriff to jail time after previously rejecting a probationary deal cut by the office of U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles.
“The guidelines do not call for a probationary sentence,” Wooten said at the time. “Conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens is a serious charge.”
Indeed it is … and Metts will now do time on that charge, even though he broke down in tears before Wooten – telling the judge he “wouldn’t come out alive” if he was forced to go to jail.
Should have thought about that earlier …
Assuming he behaves himself in prison, Metts could be transferred to a halfway house after six months and serve the remainder of his sentence there. He’ll be on probation for at least two years after that – and will also be required to pay a $10,000 fine.
Metts was indicted in June by federal authorities for accepting bribes in exchange for using “his position, power, and influence as Sheriff to interfere with the proper identification and processing of certain illegal aliens detained at the Lexington County (detention center).”
He originally pleaded not guilty to the charges – and vigorously protested his innocence. Four other individuals have been indicted at the state level for their roles in the “Lexington Ring,” a cabal of crooked cops and corrupt politicians that was relentlessly exposed in 2012-13 by this website.
Meanwhile five of Metts’ subordinates were fired from their posts in the aftermath of the indictment.
We believe Wooten deserves tremendous credit for holding Metts accountable. In an era of selective justice, it’s nice to see at least one judge holding a powerful, well-connected politico to task for his violation of the public trust.
53 comments
If it were you or me, we’d be UNDER the jail. The good old boy network wins again…
Yep! These damn government crooks look out for each other because they never know when they might get caught in another one’s trap.
The guidelines for this particular crime were 10-16 months, according to what I read. Not sure Metts really got that much of a sweetheart deal out of this.
Good! I hope he gets Fleece Johnson for a cell mate and loses his anal cherry very quickly.
He should have gotten considerably more time, but given the pleas by his attorneys and the spineless lack of demand for jail time by the prosecution, I’m grateful that this POS gets a year away from home and family, hopefully to invlude Christmas. When you do the math on the evil this POS has gotten away with and the paltry “sentence” and “fine”, Jimmy is teaching our kids and all of us yhat crime indeed DOES pay.
Note to Mr. Obama:
According to US District Court Judge Terry Wooten, “…Conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens is a serious charge…”
Like!
Sadly, when you see the limp-wristed way prosecutors went after a crooked sheriff and how long it took them to finally do that, you know they’ll never go after the big guys for their misdeeds.
Prosecutors cutting deals with criminal defense lawyers? Pshaw. You’re talking about Bill Nettles, so what you really have is a criminal defense lawyer cutting deals with criminal defense lawyers. A pack of liberal pussies trying to save a Republican from becoming prison ass-candy – only in the alternate universe of South Carolina Politics.
T-Rav can give Metts some pointers and a few names. Metts can run for Scott’s senate seat in 2016
Please pass this note to all these Construction companies in South Carolina.Im sure most of them are owned by Democrats.
You missed the fact that Judge Wooten cut Metts a break by sentencing him to a year and a day. That means he will be eligible for a good behavior sentence reduction plus early release to a halfway house or home confinement. Chances are Metts will be back home within six months. If Wooten had sentenced him to only one year, Metts would have been locked up for the whole time.
Wow, it must be nice to have preferred treatment.
SHIT! I was hoping in Federal system, he’d do the whole year. This sickens me, but thank you for the clarification.
Thanks Jimmy, Judge Wooten, and “Prosecutor” nettles for teaching our kids and the rest o these roaches in office that crime really DOES pay.
I wonder how many times in his life Metts uttered that false cliche about it not paying to a group of kids and then silently chuckled to himself, “unless you’re me”.
As someone already said, the sentencing guideline for this crime was 10-16 months, Metts got 12 plus 1 day. Many sentences include a transition to a half-way house for the final 6 months. Should the sentence be longer, yes… is it a sweetheart deal, no. I wouldn’t look forward to spending 6 months behind bars if I was in my 60’s with health issues. Being that he was in law enforcement, ol’ Jimmy isn’t likely going to be palling around with the general population, he’ll likely spend that 6 months in a cell by himself.
Butner – where Jim Baker wrote his memoirs and set up his new show for when he was released. A real country club. The GENPOP is a bunch of wall street guys, politicians and a few top mafia guys and a load of plastic surgeons who get rolled up all the time for doling out scripts to old douche bags with money. The mountains are nice this time of year.
They even get to have their meals prepared from a menu written by their personal doctors. Everything about this was scripted from the get-go.
Has it already been determined by the judge where he’ll spend his time?
The Bureau of Prisons, not the judge, determines where Metts will go. And, from what I understand, Butner is the loony bin…for the seriously mentally ill like Jim Baker or Bernie Madoff…no country club. It is a myth that there is a country club somewhere inside the Bureau of Prisons.
True indeed. Most of the legal experts on this blog have only seen the inside of their respective home county jails for a night or two at the time throughout their lives. They hope to make it big and get some genuine fed time one day…
“They hope to make it big and get some genuine fed time one day…”
lol…you think someone here is shooting for a Fed stay eh?
A year vs. a year and a day? Only lawyers could write laws or sentencing rules like that.
It’s a problem inherent to laws/gov’t in general. (see the tax code, statutory rape, etc)
Cleaver vs. scalpel, etc.
There’s always arbitrary figures bandied about as “solutions” to societal problems.
“he broke down in tears before Wooten – telling the judge he “wouldn’t come out alive” if he was forced to go to jail.”
Not fun having your freedom taken from you for a victimless crime, is it Metts?
Look at it this way, you’ll have time to learn Spanish in the joint.
I’m not buying the tears myself, he’ll be protected by the prison guards and I just don’t see them exposing him to the general population….but maybe I’m wrong…time will tell.
Being thrown in with the bad guys you caught should be a deterrent to doing something illegal when given a position of power and public trust. No tears for crooked cops, it is what they chose to accept.
I’d prefer that we didn’t have as many stupid laws so that everyone was a little more free, but I understand your viewpoint.
uh-oh, you said “exposing”
He will be in NC with Bernie Madoff or some other facility for the elderly.
oh yeah? Well where exactly is the wife murderer / bookie Brett Parker being housed? Life sentence but nowhere to be found in the prison databases. Metts will be playing cards with Brett by morning. You people are blind.
I thought that info was public information (except for fed/wit program)
People give me your opinion on the Williamsburg County Sheriff case. He got almost three years for a fabricated case of credit repair fraud and defrauding Equifax. But got sentenced on something totally different. I bet those poor people that was able to buy new homes , cars , and provide for their families really feel like victims. Give me a break.
Please…he was crooked as hell in a lot of ways, and besides, this was no “help the little guy fight Equifax” thing. This was a “me and my buddy the credit repair scammer are getting rich” thing. Just like the old Al Capone story, it doesn’t matter what they gig you on, as long as they eventually gig you…
At last report he was still at Kirkland but that report is old.
Witness protection, most likely. New name, new state, new job.
JUST GOT A NEW MORTGAGE LAST WEEK FOR 417,000 TO
PAY HIS LAWYERS
That’s okay. When he gets out, no doubt Kermit, Jakie, and a lot of his cronies will let him in on their latest money-making schemes. He’ll probably have controlling stock in multiple meth labs, prostitutes, and video poker interests. Don’t forget his police retirement tht will easily top $100K a year. Old Jimmy will be sitting pretty.
What does his retirement have to do with anything? He’s on the same retirement program as most other state and county employees. It’s not as if he got a special deal. Put in 40 years with the state and you’ll also take home 75% of your salary.
Hi Squishy! It should disgust any good citizen or cop that people like Metts, Austin, and R Scott, get paid the excessive salaries they do and then draw retirement, based partly on those ridiculous salaries after engaging in wholesale corruption and outrageous behavior that they would have fired one of their own employees for on a first offense.
Metts stayed in office for fortysomething years so he could receive bribes and other graft and grow fat off the fruits of his risks as well as to hang on to that power and glory. How wrong that after his shameful conduct in office was finally exposed, that he will draw more than double in retirement each year, than an honest front line deputy who does the real work and takes the real risks in getting the job done! Metts will draw a percentage of something like 1.5-2% for each year past 25 that he stayed in power.
Spurrier’s state salary last year was $1.5 million, before it was brought back down. 4 of his 12 quarters used to calculate his retirement will be based on that $1.5 million salary. I don’t see anyone bitching about that. That little maneuver for one year likely increased his retirement by $200k-$300k per year.
I’m not defending Jimmy, but his pension has nothing to do with any of this. Every front line deputy isn’t locked into that job for life, just like Jimmy he/she can move up in ranks and maybe someday hold the office of Sheriff.
It’s also not 1.5% – 2% for every year past 25 years. It’s 1.875% x average salary for highest 12 quarters x number of years. It tops out at 40 years at an amount of 75% of highest 12 quarters.
The 2 years of probation, is that the same as Supervision?
Congratulations Mr. Folks, you called this story and got it right. Shame on the nay sayers who kept saying you were making up the story. The FBI isn’t done with Lexington County yet.
Let’s see if I can muster any tears of sympathy for Mr. Metts.
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Nope. Not one drop.
Frogface could have been a Dick Tracy villain.
In other news, jimmy hoffa has been located.
Loftis will be next.
How was the Treasurer’s Office able to pay the Bank of New York Mellon’s
custody bill’s last summer and fall? Were funds diverted from other
agencies and budgets such as DMV funds? Do Chief of Staff Clarissa
Adams’ initials appear on the approval form for the diversion of these
funds? How much did this six figure payment cost? Did the legislature
give approval in the state budget? Why has so much money been diverted
from Unclaimed Property this year? Did Curtis or Clarissa approve this
transaction? What is it paying for? Why have fees increased so much in
the Local Government Investment Program? What are they paying for? Who
are the contract employees making hundreds of dollar every hour they
work to implement an IT system? Have there been cost overruns? How much
did settling the Amick case cost the taxpayer? Did Curtis break the law?
Did he settle it to avoid it coming up the primary?How much does the
State still owe the Bank of New York? Why does the State owe money after
the lawsuit was settled? Did the settlement funds come in as cash? Or
was it a reduction in the amount the State owes Bank of New York?
We could send one SC bigshot up the river every week and I’d still never get bored or tired of it.
This image is a lot better.
http://www.thestate.com/incoming/6lfu4p/picture13685972/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/14qKu1.So.74.jpeg
LIKE!!!!
I support our cops. They are taking to much heat from the media but dame rogues need to be dealt with severely. This jackass got off to easily.
God bless Judge Terry Wooten, …
Have all two way radios, firearms, vehicles, and other items of value or consequence issued to Jimmy been turned in yet? Has he had to relinquish his firearms?
“…telling the judge he ‘wouldn’t come out alive’ if he was forced to go to jail.”
Big Jimmy Metts…tough guy! I know it won’t happen, but I wish him much special “crooked cop” sexual attention while he’s inside to help balance out all the bad juju he brought upon the profession.
I am torn on this. Yes, he abused his position of power …however, why does the Fed Gov allow people over our borders…to work they claim. WTF? or was there something else but this was the easiest charge?
Because lazy fat Americans wont pick fruit in the hot sun for $2 an hour, that’s why the feds have work programs. Because YOU are lazy and FAT!
Also run construction jobs, clean buildings and homes, own and operate restaurants, own and operate other businesses both services and consumer goods, …most of these are not Fed Govt Work Programs but the Fed Govt allows them here illegally under the premise of “work”. Then they give them benefits and put them (as well in some cases as the employer) in an awkward position of being here illegally and working illegally. It doesn’t make any sense.
If you are defending the Fed Govt for allowing illegals here for just migrant work/fruit picking program then you are ignorant.
Will his new work clothes be orange or purple?