Suspended Florence county South Carolina sheriff Kenney Boone has been indicted … again. This time, Boone is staring down three new campaign finance charges and another misconduct in office allegation.
The disgraced lawman recently rejected a plea offer in connection with the first round of indictments issued against him back in April.
By statute, Boone was suspended from office upon his initial indictment. S.C. governor Henry McMaster appointed former sheriff William Barnes to serve until the charges against Boone were resolved.
If Boone is found guilty of these charges – or pleads guilty – he would be statutorily removed from office.
According to prosectors in the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson, Boone used money from a federal narcotics fund to purchase “a variety of consumer type goods, including but not limited to bicycle equipment, groceries, coolers, baseball equipment, electronics or clothing.”
Meanwhile, a separate embezzlement indictment against Boone alleged that he used county funds on “a variety of consumer type goods, including but not limited to window tinting, floor mats, tools, lights, cooking appliances, a cooler, and groceries.”
Federal charges are also possible against Boone, although as of this writing none have been filed.
(Click to view)
(Via: S.C. Attorney General’s Office)
This week, Boone (above) was accused of failing to report campaign contributions, failing to keep a record of campaign contributions and converting the proceeds of campaign contributions to “personal use.” In addition to these three charges, Boone was hit with another misconduct in office charge.
That is four new indictments … all of which will be prosecuted by Wilson’s office.
Boone received a $50,000 personal recognizance bond on the four new charges from S.C. circuit court judge DeAndrea Benjamin.
According to our sources, Boone was prepared to accept a plea agreement in late August on the first round of charges against him. That deal would have forced him to give up his office and serve a short jail sentence – but he would have also been allowed to keep his law enforcement pension. Boone reportedly “changed his mind at the last minute,” however.
Developing …
-FITSNews
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