DaysWithoutEnd
29 Jul 2004, 03:36 PM
South Carolina official indicted over cockfighting ring
Thursday, July 29, 2004 Posted: 4:00 PM EDT (2000 GMT)
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- South Carolina's agriculture commissioner was arrested Thursday on charges of taking at least $20,000 in payoffs to protect a cockfighting ring from the law.
Charles Sharpe, 65, was indicted on federal charges including extortion and money laundering. He was accused of accepting the money from an organization involved in breeding and raising birds for cockfighting in exchange for helping the group avoid legal trouble. Cockfighting is illegal in South Carolina.
Sharpe's lawyers said he is innocent. Sharpe was accused of taking the payoffs in 2002 and 2003, while he was a state lawmaker and then agriculture commissioner.
The two extortion charges alone carry up to 20 years in prison each. Under the state constitution, the governor must now suspend Sharpe and appoint a replacement.
U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. said Sharpe escorted a law enforcement officer to the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association's cockfighting building and falsely told the officer that the fighting there was legal because it was done only to test the bloodline and hardiness of the birds. The officer was working undercover for the FBI and recorded the conversation.
The indictment also said Sharpe tried to convince a candidate for Aiken County sheriff that the bird operation was legal. The candidate, Michael Hunt, who was elected last year, also worked undercover for federal investigators.
Sharpe was also accused of taking campaign contributions to help pass legislation that benefited the group. A former State Law Enforcement Division agent, Keith Stokes, also was charged in the case. Stokes was fired in February as a result of the investigation.
Sharpe, a Republican, served in the state House from 1985 until 2002 and was chairman of the Agriculture Committee. In 2002, he was elected agriculture commissioner. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, called cockfighting barbaric and demanded Sharpe resign immediately.
"In exchange for thousands of dollars, he has allegedly used his connections and his stature not only to enrich himself, but also to provide protection for an organized criminal network of cockfighters," Pacelle said.
Thursday, July 29, 2004 Posted: 4:00 PM EDT (2000 GMT)
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- South Carolina's agriculture commissioner was arrested Thursday on charges of taking at least $20,000 in payoffs to protect a cockfighting ring from the law.
Charles Sharpe, 65, was indicted on federal charges including extortion and money laundering. He was accused of accepting the money from an organization involved in breeding and raising birds for cockfighting in exchange for helping the group avoid legal trouble. Cockfighting is illegal in South Carolina.
Sharpe's lawyers said he is innocent. Sharpe was accused of taking the payoffs in 2002 and 2003, while he was a state lawmaker and then agriculture commissioner.
The two extortion charges alone carry up to 20 years in prison each. Under the state constitution, the governor must now suspend Sharpe and appoint a replacement.
U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. said Sharpe escorted a law enforcement officer to the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association's cockfighting building and falsely told the officer that the fighting there was legal because it was done only to test the bloodline and hardiness of the birds. The officer was working undercover for the FBI and recorded the conversation.
The indictment also said Sharpe tried to convince a candidate for Aiken County sheriff that the bird operation was legal. The candidate, Michael Hunt, who was elected last year, also worked undercover for federal investigators.
Sharpe was also accused of taking campaign contributions to help pass legislation that benefited the group. A former State Law Enforcement Division agent, Keith Stokes, also was charged in the case. Stokes was fired in February as a result of the investigation.
Sharpe, a Republican, served in the state House from 1985 until 2002 and was chairman of the Agriculture Committee. In 2002, he was elected agriculture commissioner. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, called cockfighting barbaric and demanded Sharpe resign immediately.
"In exchange for thousands of dollars, he has allegedly used his connections and his stature not only to enrich himself, but also to provide protection for an organized criminal network of cockfighters," Pacelle said.