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by WILL FOLKS
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Former Spartanburg County, South Carolina sheriff Chuck Wright and two alleged co-conspirators are facing multiple federal charges related to the misuse of public funds and the abuse of the public trust.
Wright and one coconspirator are alleged to have used a nonprofit intended to support sheriff’s deputies as a personal slush fund – while Wright is accused of using money from the fund to subsidize his drug addiction.
Wright was also accused of stealing narcotics obtained by his department under the auspices of a sheriff’s office “Drug Take Back Day” – in which members of the community are encouraged to safely “dispose” of unneeded prescription medication.
In this case, 147 of those pills wound up being used by Wright.
According to an explosive information document (.pdf) submitted by federal prosecutors in U.S. district court in Spartanburg on Thursday (September 25, 2025), Wright “used public funds to finance his private lifestyle” and “abused his position as elected sheriff of Spartanburg County to siphon money” from the county purse. Amos Durham, former director of the sheriff’s benevolence fund, is also accused of abusing his position to “personally siphon public funds for his and (Chuck) Wright’s private use.”
Meanwhile, Spartanburg County employee Lawson B. Watson – a longtime intimate of Wright’s – stands accused of using his taxpayer-funded position “to personally enrich himself by receiving public funds for work that he did not perform.”
According to federal prosecutors, beginning in “at least or around 2017 and continuing thereafter,” Wright, Durham and “others known and unknown” to prosecutors entered into a conspiracy. Its aim? To embezzle, obtain by fraud and knowingly convert “intentionally misapplied property” under the auspices of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) – the agency Wright led from 2004 until his resignation in May of this year.
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Specifically, Wright, Durham and their unnamed coconspirators siphoned money from the benevolence fund “for the purchase of personal items such as travel, food , clothing, controlled substances and other items,” the feds alleged.
As part of the alleged conspiracy, the accused “monitored the accounts of the benevolence fund so that they could embezzle, steal, and obtain property under false pretenses” without anyone in the county being the wiser.
Additionally, “it was part of the scheme and the artifice that the coconspirators used blank checks to pay un-indicted coconspirators for the purchase of controlled substances.”
From August 2022 through March of this year, Durham allegedly obtained $28,240 from the fund “that was used to enrich himself and (Chuck) Wright.” Wright also allegedly used money from the benevolence fund intended to pay for deputy travel to Washington D.C. to honor a murdered SCSO deputy “for his own personal benefit and for the benefit of others.”
Wright also allegedly used benevolence fund from January to December of last year “under the false pretense of paying a confidential informant for a criminal case.”
Perhaps most damning, federal prosecutors maintain that from January 2022 through March of this year, Wright “met with an un-indicted coconspirator and used money that he obtained from (Durham) from the benevolence fund to buy controlled substances for his personal use.” Wright also allegedly obtained a blank check from Durham from the benevolence fund and wrote the name of the un-indicted coconspirator as payee during the time he was “buying large quantities of controlled substances.”
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RELATED | ‘OFF THE DAMN EDGE‘
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A separate count against Wright accused him of obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation via the aforementioned “take back” narcotics disposal program run by his office. According to prosecutors, beginning in May of 2023 and continuing through September 2023, Wright “knowingly and intentionally obtained and acquired controlled substances, to wit, oxycodone and hydrocodone… by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge.”
As noted, Wright obtained 146 pain pills from an individual known to prosecutors “after representing that the pills would be turned in and destroyed as part of the ‘take back’ narcotic disposal program administered by (SCSO).”
“In truth and fact, (Wright) was obtaining the controlled substance for his own personal use.”
As for Watson, federal prosecutors allege that from January 2021 through March of this year, he “declared, certified and attested on his timesheet that he worked a number of hours to collect a paycheck as a full-time employee.”
“In truth and in fact, Watson received public funds and benefits for work that he did not perform,” prosecutors claimed, citing an estimated $200,000 in “fraudulently” obtained paychecks and benefits.
Prosecutors singled out a “domestic incident” which took place at Watson’s home on September 22, 2022 at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT – an incident involving “Watson and another individual.”
Police responded to the scene and encountered Watson, whose presence at the residence conflicted with his attestation that he had worked 7.5 hours for the county that day, according to prosecutors.
“Watson did not appear for work as part of a plan to obtain money for work that he did not perform,” prosecutors alleged.
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THE PLEAS…
Shortly after the federal information sheet was released, pleas for all three defendants were entered.
Wright pled guilty (.pdf) to three counts:
Count 1: Conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds (18 U.S.C. § 371).
Count 2: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349).
Count 3: Obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation (21 U.S.C. § 843(a)(3)).
He is facing up to 29 years behind bars plus fines of up to $250,000 on each charge and supervised release. He is also looking at the forfeiture of least $440,000 in fraud proceeds plus drug-related proceeds. Furthermore, his assets must be disclosed and surrendered; and substitute assets can be seized if needed.
LB Watson pled guilty (.pdf) to one count:
Count 2: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349).
Lawson is facing up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release.
Amos Durham pled guilty (.pdf) to
Count 1: Conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds (18 U.S.C. § 371).
Durham is facing up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.
All three waived appeal/post-conviction rights except for ineffective counsel, misconduct, or changes in law.
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THE DOCUMENT…
(U.S. District Court)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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8 comments
Here I thought they were going to connect him to the Limestone U trafficking scandal along with other various underworld connections.
Well its up to a Federal Judge what his 20 years as sheriff means to a city that houses many victims from his leadership of spartanburgs heavy handed law enforcement that was drug fueled and corrupt. How many charges, fines, misdemeanors and felonies has he or his department bestowed on others that were unfair, biased, trumped up or completely not true?
He wasn’t exactly known for his empathy.
Yes he has connections, but what message will the Judge send the citizens of South Carolina during a climate that includes a governors race, SLEDs tactical cleanup of the state and basically the reorganization of South Carolina’s leadership?
Im not entirely fixated on this gentleman spending the rest of his life behind bars, factoring these are his first offenses, and the charges are typical bad behaviors for someone that has retained that type of power for so long. So it’ll be interesting to see what a Federal Judges opinion of this is during his hearing.
His role has been replaced by an interim with massive experience who has been grinding away at fixing the department and it will now be handed down to a gentleman who looks to have great potential as sheriff.
Trey Gowdy probably got him set up with some presidential pardons anyways. These are Federal charges, I dont see any state charges. So expect that after whatever sentence or fines he’ll be given, its probably why he accepted the plea as is. Its why he wanted to dodge that firearm charge, Trump pardons white collar crimes especially for ex sheriff’s like its no big deal.
No sense praying on this guys demise. Hes a citizen now. His house of cards has fallen.
The fact is these charges are just a drop in the bucket compared to all the criminal things this POS did with the power of the state over his decades in “law enforcement” to enhance his criminal career. The “Freedom Machine” needs to ensure the public “trusts” the “just-us” system by “prosecuting” these “bad apples” but at the same time covering all the other criminal conspiracies and those involved by omission.
The laundry list of crimes this POS was involved in and those who he worked with is vast and if actually revealed would shatter the illusion of the benevolent state and reveal the criminal cabal the state truly is.
Soon this will go down the memory hole and the sheep will again tell each other how much the farmer loves them.
Hmm, stealing money from innocent people to fund drugs, where have I seen that before?
There is no way that NO member of county council had NO idea that any of this mess was going on.
What needs to be done to investigate who else in government knew and covered it up?
Is there a way for obtain the name of the “unindicted conspirator” who got a benevolence fund check for drugs?
I hope the sentences are heavy – these crimes are a despicable breach of trust, without any signs of regret.
A Spartanburg Methodist College alum, Chuck Wright seems to represent values similar to SMC administrators. On
January 1st, 2024, while Wright was Sheriff, a SMC security officer shot and killed Victor Roblero on an empty campus. Approaching three years later, SMC has yet to share with the public who shot and killed Victor Roblero. A similar shooting death on campus in 2015 prompted SMC to seek officer cameras. SMC has yet to release footage of the 2024 incident.
No mention that Wright was a Republican I see…
I believe they need to open the case back up involving Todd Kolhepp, I think Kayla Brown is just as guilty as kolhepp is, there’s more to this than they let the public know, I also believe there are more victims buried on his property off of 101.