COLUMBIA — A Williamsburg County sheriff and former county supervisor are named in a nine count-indictment for an alleged money laundering scheme to funnel government funds to pay themselves more than state law allowed.
The South Carolina State Grand Jury returned the public corruption-related indictments against Williamsburg County Sheriff Stephen Gardner and Tiffany Cooks, the county’s former supervisor, on March 12, according to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Gov. Henry McMaster suspended Gardner after the indictment returns. Clemson Wright Jr. will serve as the county’s sheriff pending the outcome of the case.
The charges against Gardner in Williamsburg County are:
- Criminal conspiracy
- Misconduct in office
- Receiving anything of value to influence action of public official ethics act violation
- Acceptance of rebates or extra compensation
- Money laundering, value $20,000 but less than $100,000
The charges against Cooks are:
- Criminal conspiracy
- Misconduct in office
- Offering anything of value to influence action of public official ethics act violation
- Embezzlement
- Money laundering, value $20,000 but less than $100,000
The indictments, the attorney general’s office announced, accused Gardner of obtaining the money “secretly” and Cooks “secretly” providing themselves government funds that were above their legitimate, and county-approved, salary.
An Uncovered investigation by The Post and Courier found six elected officials in Williamsburg County received “overtime” pay or pay under “other.” Elected officials are not allowed to collect overtime payments. The investigation revealed Gardner received about $75,000 in four years, and Cooks collected about $33,000 in “other” payments.
The indictments accused Gardner and Cooks of conspiring to funnel the money to Gardner in a scheme where government money was routed to the sheriff under the guise of checks written to a third party, according to a news release. As part of the scheme, Gardner avoided paying withholdings or taxes, according to the attorney general’s office.
The State Law Enforcement Division investigated the improper payment of overtime to salaried county employees, which The Post and Courier and Kingstree News had disclosed in the July Uncovered investigation. The ongoing series examines questionable conduct of government officials throughout the state.
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Creighton Waters and Assistant Attorney General Savanna Goude will prosecute the cases.
Gardner served as the chief deputy for 10 years with Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office before winning election to the sheriff’s position in 2016.
Cooks served one term in office but was defeated in the 2022 Democratic primary election by former county sheriff Kelvin Washington.
Gardner is the 17th South Carolina sheriff indicted on criminal charges since 2010.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
